THE LOUDWATER MYSTERY

 BY EDGAR JEPSON

 1920

CHAPTER I

Lord Loudwater was paying attention neither to his breakfast nor to thecat Melchisidec. Absorbed in a leader in _The Times_ newspaper, now andagain he tugged at his red-brown beard in order to quicken hiscomprehension of the weighty phrases of the leader-writer; now and againhe made noises, chiefly with his nose, expressive of disgust. LadyLoudwater paid no attention to these noises. She did not even raise hereyes to her husband's face. She ate her breakfast with a thoughtful air, her brow puckered by a faint frown. 

She also paid no attention to her favourite, Melchisidec. Melchisidec, unduly excited by the smell of grilled sole, came to Lord Loudwater, roseon his hind legs, laid his paws on his trousers, and stuck some clawsinto his thigh. It was no more than gentle, arresting pricks; but thetender nobleman sprang from his chair with a short howl, kicked withfutile violence a portion of the empty air which Melchisidec had justvacated, staggered, and nearly fell. 

Lady Loudwater did not laugh; but she did cough. 

Her husband, his face a furious crimson, glared at her with reddish eyes, and swore violently at her and the cat. 

Lady Loudwater rose, her face flushed, her lips trembling, picked upMelchisidec, and walked out of the room. Lord Loudwater scowled at theclosed door, sat down, and went on with his breakfast. 

James Hutchings, the butler, came quietly into the room, took one of thesmaller dishes from the sideboard and Lady Loudwater's teapot from thetable. He went quietly out of the room, pausing at the door to scowl athis master's back. Lady Loudwater finished her breakfast in thesitting-room of her suite of rooms on the first floor. She was no longerinattentive to Melchisidec. 

During her breakfast she put all consideration of her husband's behaviourout of her mind. As she smoked a cigarette after breakfast she consideredit for a little while. She often had to consider it. She came to theconclusion to which she had often come before: that she owed him nothingwhatever. She came to the further conclusion that she detested him. Shehad far too good a brow not to be able to see a fact clearly. She wishedmore heartily than ever that she had never married him. It had been agrievous mistake; and it seemed likely to last a life-time--herlife-time. The last five ancestors of her husband had lived to be eighty. His father would doubtless have lived to be eighty too, had he not brokenhis neck in the hunting-field at the age of fifty-four. On the otherhand, none of the Quaintons, her own family, had reached the age ofsixty. Lord Loudwater was thirty-five; she was twenty-two; he wouldtherefore survive her by at least seven years. She would certainly bebowed down all her life under this grievous burden. 

It was an odd calculation for a young married woman to make; but LadyLoudwater came of an uncommon family, which had produced more brilliant, irresponsible, and passably unscrupulous men than any other of theleading families in England. Her father had been one of them. She tookafter him. Moreover, Lord Loudwater would have induced odd reveries inany wife. He had been intolerable since the second week of theirhoneymoon. Wholly without power of self-restraint, the furious outburstsof his vile temper had been consistently revolting. She once more toldherself that something would have to be done about it--not on theinstant, however. At the moment there appeared to her to be months to doit in. She dropped her cigarette end into the ash-tray, and with it anyfurther consideration of the manners and disposition of Lord Loudwater. 

She lit another cigarette and let her thoughts turn to that far moreappealing subject, Colonel Antony Grey. They turned to him readily andwholly. In less than three minutes she was seeing his face and hearingcertain tones in his voice with amazing clearness. Once she looked at theclock impatiently. It was half-past ten. She would not see him tillthree--four and a half hours. It seemed a long while to her. However, she could go on thinking about him. She did. 

While she considered her ill-tempered husband her eyes had been hard andalmost shallow. While she considered Colonel Grey, they grew soft anddeep. Her lips had been set and almost thin; now they grew most kissable. 

Lord Loudwater finished his breakfast, the scowl on his face fadingslowly to a frown. He lit a cigar and with a moody air went to hissmoking-room. The criminal carelessness of the cat Melchisidecstill rankled. 

As he entered the room, half office and half smoking-room, Mr. HerbertManley, his secretary, bade him good morning. Lord Loudwater returned hisgreeting with a scowl. 

Mr. Herbert Manley had one of those faces which begin well and end badly. He had a fine forehead, lofty and broad, a well-cut, gently-curving-nose, a slack, thick-lipped mouth, always a little open, a heavy, animal jaw, and the chin of an eagle. His fine, black hair was thin on the temples. His moustache was thin and straggled. His black eyes were as good as hisbrow, intelligent, observant, and alert. It was plain that had his lipsbeen thinner and his chin larger he would not have been the secretary ofLord Loudwater--or of any one else. He would have been a masterless man. The success of two one-act plays on the stage of the music-halls hadgiven him the firm hope of one day becoming a masterless man as asuccessful dramatist. His post gave him the leisure to write plays. Butfor the fact that it brought him into such frequent contact with the LordLoudwater it would have been a really pleasant post: the food wasexcellent; the wine was good; the library was passable; and the servants, with the exception of James Hutchings, liked and respected him. He hadthe art of making himself valued (at far more than his real worth, saidhis enemies), and his air of importance continuously impressed them. 

With a patient air he began to discuss the morning's letters, and ask forinstructions. Lord Loudwater was, as often happened, uncommonly captiousabout the letters. He had not recovered from the shock the inconsiderateMelchisidec had given his nerves. The instructions he gave were somewhatmuddled; and when Mr. Manley tried to get them clearer, his employerswore at him for an idiot. Mr. Manley persisted firmly through much abusetill he did get them clear. He had come to consider his employer's furiesan unfortunate weakness which had to be endured by the holder of the posthe found so advantageous. He endured them with what stoicism he might. 

Lord Loudwater in a bad temper always produced a strong impression ofredness for a man whose colouring was merely red-brown. Owing to the factthat his fierce, protruding blue eyes were red-rimmed and somewhatbloodshot, in moments of emotion they shone with a curious red glint, andhis florid face flushed a deeper red. In these moments Mr. Manley had afeeling that he was dealing with a bad-tempered red bull. His employermade very much the same impression on other people, but few of them hadthe impression of bullness so clear and so complete as did Mr. Manley. Lady Loudwater, on the other hand, felt always, whether her husband wasramping or quiet, that she was dealing with a bad-tempered bull. 

Presently they came to the end of the letters. Lord Loudwater lit anothercigar, and scowled thoughtfully. Mr. Manley gazed at his scowling faceand wondered idly whether he would ever light on another human being whomhe would detest so heartily as he detested his employer. He thought itindeed unlikely. Still, when he became a successful dramatist there mightbe an actor-manager--

Then Lord Loudwater said: "Did you tell Mrs. Truslove that afterSeptember her allowance would be reduced to three hundred a year?"

"Yes, " said Mr. Manley. 

"What did she say?"

Mr. Manley hesitated; then he said diplomatically: "She did not seemto like it. "

"What did she _say_?" cried Lord Loudwater in a sudden, startling bellow, and his eyes shone red. 

Mr. Manley winced and said quickly: "She said it was just like you. "

"Just like me? Hey? And what did she mean by that?" cried Lord Loudwaterloudly and angrily. 

Mr. Manley expressed utter ignorance by looking blank and shrugging hisshoulders. 

"The jade! She's had six hundred a year for more than two years. Did shethink it would go on for ever?" cried his employer. 

"No, " said Mr. Manley. 

"And why didn't she think it would go on for ever? Hey?" said LordLoudwater in a challenging tone. 

"Because there wasn't an actual deed of settlement, " said Mr. Manley. 

"The ungrateful jade! I've a good mind to stop it altogether!" criedhis employer. 

Mr. Manley said nothing. His face was blank; it neither approved nordisapproved the suggestion. 

Lord Loudwater scowled at him and said: "I expect she said she wishedshe'd never had anything to do with me. "

"No, " said Mr. Manley. 

"I'll bet that's what she thinks, " growled Lord Loudwater. 

Mr. Manley let the suggestion pass without comment. His face was blank. 

"And what's she going to do about it?" said Lord Loudwater in a tone ofchallenge. 

"She's going to see you about it. "

"I'm damned if she is!" cried Lord Loudwater hastily, in a much lessassured tone. 

Mr. Manley permitted a faint, sceptical smile to wreathe his lips. 

"What are you grinning at? If you think she'll gain anything by doingthat, she won't, " said Lord Loudwater, with a blustering truculence. 

Mr. Manley wondered. Helena Truslove was a lady of considerable force ofcharacter. He suspected that if Lord Loudwater had ever been afraid of afellow-creature, he must at times have been afraid of Helena Truslove. He fancied that now he was not nearly as fearless as he sounded. He didnot say so. 

His employer was silent, buried in scowling reflection. Mr. Manley gazedat him without any great intentness, and came to the conclusion that hedid not merely detest him, he loathed him. 

Presently he said: "There's a cheque from Hanbury and Johnson for twelvethousand and forty-six pounds for the rubber shares your lordship sold. It wants endorsing. "

He handed the cheque across the table to Lord Loudwater. LordLoudwater dipped his pen in the ink, transfixed a strugglingbluebottle, and drew it out. 

"Why the devil don't you see that the ink is fresh?" he roared. 

"It is fresh. The bluebottle must have just fallen into it, " said Mr. Manley in an unruffled tone. 

Lord Loudwater cursed the bluebottle, restored it to the ink-pot, endorsed the cheque, and tossed it across the table to Mr. Manley. 

"By the way, " said Mr. Manley, with some hesitation, "there's anotheranonymous letter. "

"Why didn't you burn it? I told you to burn 'em all, " snapped hisemployer. 

"This one is not about you. It's about Hutchings, " said Mr. Manley in anexplanatory tone. 

"Hutchings? What about Hutchings?"

"You'd better read it, " said Mr. Manley, handing him the letter. "Itseems to be from some spiteful woman. "

The letter was indeed written in female handwriting, and it accused thebutler, wordily enough, of having received a commission from LordLoudwater's wine merchants on a purchase of fifty dozen of champagnewhich he had bought from them a month before. It further stated that hehad received a like commission on many other such purchases. 

Lord Loudwater read it, scowling, sprang up from his chair with his eyesprotruding further than usual, and cried: "The scoundrel! The blackguard!I'll teach him! I'll gaol him!"

He dashed at the electric bell by the fireplace, set his thumb on it, andkept it there. 

Holloway, the second footman, came running. The servants knew theirmaster's ring. They always ran to answer it, after some discussion as towhich of them should go. 

He entered and said: "Yes, m'lord?"

"Send that scoundrel Hutchings to me! Send him at once!" roaredhis master. 

"Yes, m'lord, " said Holloway, and hurried away. 

He found James Hutchings in his pantry, told him that their master wantedhim, and added that he was in a tearing rage. 

Hutchings, who never expected his sanguine and irascible master to be inany other mood, finished the paragraph of the article in the _DailyTelegraph_ he was reading, put on his coat, and went to the study. Hisdelay gave Lord Loudwater's wrath full time to mature. 

When the butler entered his master shook his fist at him and roared: "Youscoundrel! You infernal scoundrel! You've been robbing me! You've beenrobbing me for years, you blackguard!"

James Hutchings met the charge with complete calm. He shook his head andsaid in a surly tone: "No; I haven't done anything of the kind, m'lord. "

The flat denial infuriated his master yet more. He spluttered and was fora while incoherent. Then he became again articulate and said: "You have, you rogue! You took a commission--a secret commission on that fifty dozenof champagne I bought last month. You've been doing it for years. "

James Hutchings' surly face was transformed. It grew malignant; hisfierce, protruding, red-rimmed blue eyes sparkled balefully, and heflushed to a redness as deep as that of his master. He knew at once whohad betrayed him, and he was furious--at the betrayal. At the same time, he was not greatly alarmed; he had never received a cheque from the winemerchants; all their payments to him had been in cash, and he had alwayscherished a warm contempt for his master. 

"I haven't, " he said fiercely. "And if I had it would be quiteregular--only a perquisite. "

For the hundredth time Mr. Manley remarked the likeness between LordLoudwater and his butler. They had the same fierce, protruding, red-rimmed blue eyes, the same narrow, low forehead, the same large ears. Hutchings' hair was a darker brown than Lord Loudwater's, and his lipswere thinner. But Mr. Manley was sure that, had he worn a beard insteadof whiskers, it would have been difficult for many people to be surewhich was Lord Loudwater and which his butler. 

Lord Loudwater again spluttered; then he roared: "A perquisite! Whatabout the Corrupt Practices Act? It was passed for rogues like you!I'll show you all about perquisites! You'll find yourself in gaolinside of a month. "

"I shan't. There isn't a word of truth in it, or a scrap of evidence, "said Hutchings fiercely. 

"Evidence? I'll find evidence all right!" cried his master. "And if Idon't, I'll, anyhow, discharge you without a character. I'll get you oneway or another, my fine fellow! I'll teach you to rob me!"

"I haven't robbed your lordship, " said Hutchings in a less surly tone. 

He was much more moved by the threat of discharge than the threat ofprosecution. 

"I tell you you have. And you can clear out of this. I'll wire to town atonce for another butler--an honest butler. You'll clear out the moment hecomes. Pack up and be ready to go. And when you do go, I'll give youtwenty-four hours to clear out of the country before I put the police onyour track, " cried Lord Loudwater. 

Mr. Manley observed that it was exactly like him to take no risk, inspite of his fury, of any loss of comfort from the lack of a butler. Theinstinct of self-protection was indeed strong in him. 

"Not a bit of it. You've told me to go, and I'm going at once--this veryday. The police will find me at my father's for the next fortnight, " saidHutchings with a sneer. "And when I go to London I'll leave my address. "

"A lot of good your going to London will do you. I'll see you never getanother place in this country, " snarled Lord Loudwater. 

Hutchings gave him a look of vindictive malignity so intense that itmade Mr. Manley quite uncomfortable, turned, and went out of the room. 

Lord Loudwater said: "I'll teach the scoundrel to rob me! Write at oncefor a new butler. "

He took some lumps of sugar from a jar on the mantelpiece, and wentthrough the door which opened into the library. 

In the library he stopped and shouted back: "If Morton comes about thetimber, I shall be in the stables. "

Then he went through one of the long windows of the library into thegarden and took his way to the stables. As he drew near them the scowlcleared from his face. But it remained a formidable face; it did not growpleasant. None the less, he spent a pleasant hour in the stables, pettinghis horses. He was fond of horses, not of cats, and he never bullied andseldom abused his horses as he abused and bullied his fellow men andwomen. This was the result of his experience. He had learnt from it thathe might bully and abuse his human dependents with impunity. As a boy hehad also bullied and abused his horses. But in his eighteenth year he hadbeen savaged by a young horse he had maltreated, and the lesson had stuckin his mind. It was a simple, obtuse mind, but it had formed the theorythat he got more out of human beings, more deference and service, bybullying them and more out of horses by treating them kindly. Besides, heliked horses. 

Mr. Manley did not set about answering the letters at once. He reflectedfor a while on the likeness between Hutchings and his master. He thoughtthe physical likeness of little interest. There was a whole clan ofHutchingses in the villages and woods round the castle, the bulk of themgamekeepers; and there had been for generations. Mr. Manley was much moreinterested in the resemblance in character between Hutchings and LordLoudwater. Hutchings, probably under the pressure of circumstances, wasmuch less of a bore than his master, but quite as much of a bully. Also, he was more intelligent, and consequently more dangerous. Mr. Manleywould on no account have had him look at him with the intense malignitywith which he had looked at his master. Doubtless the butler had fargreater self-control than Lord Loudwater; but if ever he did lose it itwould be uncommonly bad for Lord Loudwater. 

It would be interesting to find in the Loudwater archives the commonancestor to whom they both cast so directly back. He fancied that it mustbe the third Baron. At any rate, both had his protruding blue eyes, softened in his portrait doubtless by the natural politeness of thefashionable painter. Was it worth his while to look up the record of thethird Lord Loudwater? He decided that, if he found himself at sufficientleisure, he would. Then he decided that he was glad that Hutchins wasgoing; the butler had shown him but little civility. Then he set aboutanswering the letters. 

When he had finished them he took up the stockbroker's cheque andconsidered it with a thoughtful frown. He had never before seen a chequefor so large a sum; and it interested him. Then he wrote a short note ofinstructions to Lord Loudwater's bankers. The ink in his fountain-pen ranout as he came to the end of it, and he signed it with the pen with whichLord Loudwater had endorsed the cheque. He put the cheque into theenvelope he had already addressed, put stamps on all the letters, carriedthem to the post-box on a table in the hall, went through the library outinto the garden, and smoked a cigarette with a somewhat languid air. Thenhe went into the library and took up his task of cataloguing the books atthe point at which he had stopped the day before. He often paused to dipat length into a book before entering it in the catalogue. He did notbelieve in hasty work. 

CHAPTER II

Lord Loudwater came to lunch in a better temper than that in which he hadleft the breakfast-table. He had ridden eight miles round and about hisestate, and the ride had soothed that seat of the evil humours--hisliver. Lady Loudwater had been careful to shut Melchisidec in herboudoir; James Hutchings had no desire in the world to see his master'sflorid face or square back, and had instructed Wilkins and Holloway, thefirst and second footmen, to wait at table. Lord Loudwater thereforecould, without any ruffling of his sensibilities, give all his thought tohis food, and he did. The cooking at the castle was always excellent. Ifit was not, he sent for the chef and spoke to him about it. 

There was little conversation at lunch. Lady Loudwater never spoke to herhusband first, save on rare occasions about a matter of importance. Itwas not that she perceived any glamour of royalty about him; she did notwish to hear his voice. Besides, she had never found a conversationalopening so harmless that he could not contrive, were it his whim, to beoffensive about it. Besides, she had at the moment nothing to say to him. 

In truth, owing to the fact that she took so many practically silentmeals with him, she was becoming rather a gourmet. The food, naturallythe most important fact, had become really the most important fact at themeals they took together. She had come to realize this. It was the onlyadvantage she had ever derived from her intercourse with her husband. 

At this lunch, however, she did not pay as much attention to the food asusual, not indeed as much as it deserved. Her mind would stray from it toColonel Grey. She wondered what he would tell her about herself thatafternoon. He was always discovering possibilities in her which she hadnever discovered for herself. She only perceived their existence when hepointed them out to her. Then they became obvious. Also, he was alwaysdiscovering fresh facts, attractive facts, about her--about her eyes andlips and hair and figure. He imparted each discovery to her as he madeit, without delay, and with the genuine enthusiasm of a discoverer. Ofcourse, he should not have done this. It was, indeed, wrong. But he hadassured her that he could not help it, that he was always blurted thingsout. Since it was a habit of long standing, now probably ingrained, itwas useless to reproach him with any great severity for his frankness. She did not do so. 

For his part, the Lord Loudwater had but little to say to his wife. Shewas fond of Melchisidec and indifferent to horses. For the greater partof the meal he was hardly aware that she was at the other end of thetable. Immersed in his food and its deglutition, he was hardly sensibleof the outside world at all. Once, disturbed by Holloway's removing hisempty plate, he told her that he had seen a dog-fox on Windy Ridge;again, when Holloway handed the cheese-straws to him, he told her thatMerry Belle's black colt had a cold. Her two replies, "Oh, did you?" and"Has he?" appeared to fall on deaf ears. He did not continue eitherconversation. 

Then Lord Loudwater broke into an eloquent monologue. Wilkins had pouredout a glass of port for both of them to drink with their cheese-straws. Lord Loudwater finished his cheese-straws, took a long sip from hisglass, rolled it lovingly over his tongue, gulped it down with a hideousgrimace, banged down his fist on the table, and roared in a terrible, anguished voice:

"It's corked! It's corked! It's that scoundrel Hutchings! This is his wayof taking it out of me for sacking him. He's done it on purpose, thescoundrel! Now I will gaol him! Hanged if I don't!"

"I'll get another bottle, m'lord, " said Wilkins, catching up thedecanter, and hurrying towards the door. 

"Get it! And be quick about it! And tell that scoundrel I'll gaol him!"cried Lord Loudwater. 

Wilkins rushed from the room bearing in his hand the decanter ofoffending port; Holloway followed him to help. 

Lady Loudwater sipped a little port from her glass. She was ratherinclined to take no one's word for anything which she could herselfverify. Then she took another sip. 

Then she said; "Are you sure this wine's corked?"

Corked wine at the end of a really good meal is a bitter blow to any man, an exceedingly bitter blow to a man of Lord Loudwater's sensitiveness insuch matters. 

"Am I sure? Hey? Am I sure? Yes! I am sure, you little fool!" hebellowed. "What do you know about wine? Talk about things youunderstand!"

Lady Loudwater's face was twisted by a faint spasm of hate which left itflushed. She would never grow used to being bellowed at for a fool. Oncemore her husband's refusal to let her take her meals apart from himseemed monstrous. Hardly ever did she rise from one at which she had notbeen abused and insulted. She realized indeed that she had been foolishto ask the question. But why should she sit tongue-tied before the brute?

She took another sip and said quietly: "It isn't corked. "

Then she turned cold with fright. 

Lord Loudwater could not believe his ears. It could not be that his wifehad contradicted him flatly. It--could--_not_--be. 

He was still incredulous, breathing heavily, when the door opened andJames Hutchings appeared on the threshold. In his right hand he held thedecanter of offending port, in his left a sound cork. 

He said firmly: "This wine isn't corked, m'lord. Its flavour is perfect. Besides, a cork like this couldn't cork it. "

A less sensitive man than Lord Loudwater might have risen to thedouble emergency. Lord Loudwater could not. He sat perfectly still. But his eyes rolled so horribly that the Lady Loudwater started fromher chair, uttered a faint scream, and fairly ran through the longwindow into the garden. 

James Hutchings advanced to the table, thumped the decanter down onit--no way to treat an old vintage port--at Lord Loudwater's right hand, walked out of the room, and shut the door firmly behind him. 

In the great hall he smiled a triumphant, malevolent smile. Then hecalled Wilkins and Holloway, who stood together in the middle of it, cowardly dogs and shirkers, and strode past them to the door to theservants' quarters. 

A few moments later Lord Loudwater rose to his feet and staggereddizzily along to the other end of the table. He picked up his wife'shalf-emptied glass and sipped the port. It was _not_ corked. It wasincredible! He would never forgive her!

He rang the bell. Both Wilkins and Holloway answered it. He bade themtell Hutchings to pack his belongings and go at once. If he were not outof the castle by four o'clock, they were to kick him out. Then he went, still scowling, to the stables. 

Mr. Manley had already finished his lunch. Halfway through hisafter-lunch pipe he rose, took his hat and stick, and set out to pay avisit to Mrs. Truslove. 

As he came out of the park gates he came upon the Rev. George Stebbing, the _locum tenens_ in charge of the parish, for the vicar was away on aholiday, enjoying a respite from his perpetual struggle with the patronof the living, Lord Loudwater. 

They fell into step and for a while discussed the local weather and localaffairs. Then Mr. Manley, who had been gifted by Heaven with a livelyimagination wholly untrammelled by any straining passion for exactitude, entertained Mr. Stebbing with a vivid account of his experiences asleader of the first Great Push. Mr. Manley was one of the many ratherstout, soft men who in different parts of Great Britain will till theirdying days entertain acquaintances with vivid accounts of theirexperiences as leaders of the Great Pushes. Like that of most of them, his war experience, before his weak heart had procured him his dischargefrom the army, had consisted wholly of office work in England. Hisaccount of his strenuous fighting lacked nothing of fire orpicturesqueness on that account. He was too modest to say in so manywords that but for his martial qualities there would have been no GreatPush at all, and that any success it had had was due to those martialqualities, but that was the impression he left on Mr. Stebbing's simpleand rather plastic mind. When therefore they parted at the crossroads, Mr. Manley went on his way in a pleasant content at having once more madehimself valued; and Mr. Stebbing went on his way feeling thankful that hehad been brought into friendly contact with a really able hero. Both ofthem were the happier for their chance meeting. 

Mr. Manley found Helena Truslove in her drawing-room, and when the doorclosed behind the maid who had ushered him into it, he embraced her withaffectionate warmth. Then he held her out at arm's-length, and for theseveral hundredth time admired her handsome, clear-skinned, high-coloured, gipsy face, her black, rather wild eyes, and the blackhair wreathed round her head in so heavy a mass. 

"It has been an awful long time between the kisses, " he said. 

She sighed a sigh of content and laughed softly. Then she said: "Isometimes think that you must have had a great deal of practice. "

"No, " said Mr. Manley firmly. "I have never had occasion to be inlove before. "

He put her back into the chair from which he had lifted her, sat downfacing her, and gazed at her with adoring eyes. He was truly very much inlove with her. 

They were excellent complements the one of the other. If Mr. Manley hadthe brains for two--indeed, he had the brains for half a dozen--she hadthe character for two. Her chin was very unlike the chin of an eagle. Shewas not, indeed, lacking in brains. Her brow forbade the supposition. Buthers was rather the practical intelligence, his the creative. That shehad the force of character, on occasion the fierceness, which he lacked, was no small source of her attraction for him. 

"And how was the hog this morning?" she said, ready to be soothing. 

"The hog" was their pet name for Lord Loudwater. 

"Beastly. He's an utterly loathsome fellow, " said Mr. Manley withconviction. 

"Oh, no; not utterly--at any rate, not if you're independent of him, " sheprotested. 

"Does he ever come into contact with any one who is not dependent on him?I believe he shuns them like the pest. "

"Not into close contact, " she said--"at any rate, nowadays. ButI've known him to do good-natured things; and then he's very fond ofhis horses. "

"That makes the way he treats every human being who is in any waydependent on him all the more disgusting, " said Mr. Manley firmly. 

"Oh, I don't know. It's something to be fond of animals, " she saidtolerantly. 

"This morning he had a devil of a row with Hutchings, the butler, youknow, and discharged him. "

"That was a silly thing to do. Hutchings is not at all a good person tohave a row with, " she said quickly. "I should say that he was a far moredangerous brute than Loudwater and much more intelligent. Still, I don'tknow what he could do. What was the row about?"

"Some woman sent Loudwater an anonymous letter accusing Hutchings ofhaving received commissions from the wine merchants. "

"That would be Elizabeth Twitcher's mother. Elizabeth and Hutchings wereengaged, and about ten days ago he jilted her, " said Mrs. Truslove. "Isuppose that when he was in love with her he bragged about thesecommissions to her and she told her mother. "

"Her mother has certainly taken it out of him for jilting her daughter. But what an unsavoury place the castle is!" said Mr. Manley. 

"With such a master--what can you expect?" said Mrs. Truslove. "Did thehog say anything more about halving my allowance?"

Mr. Manley frowned. A few days before he had been greatly surprised tolearn from Lord Loudwater that the bulk of Helena Truslove's income wasan allowance from him. The matter had greatly exercised his mind. Whyshould his employer allow her six hundred a year? It was a matter whichshould be cleared up. 

He said slowly: "Yes, he did. He asked what you said when I told you thathe was going to halve it, and he did not seem to like the idea of yourseeing him about it. "

"He'll like my seeing him about it even less than the idea of it, "said Mrs. Truslove firmly, and there was a sudden gleam in her wildblack eyes. 

Mr. Manley looked at her, frowning faintly. Then he said in a ratherhesitating manner: "I've never asked you about it. But why does the hogmake you this allowance?"

"That's my dark past, " she said in a teasing tone, smiling at him. "Isuppose that as we're going to be married so soon I ought to make a cleanbreast of it, if you really want to know. "

"Just as you like, " said Mr. Manley, his face clearing a little at hercareless tone. 

"Well, the hog treated me badly--not really badly, because I didn't careenough about him to make it possible for him to treat me really badly, but just as badly as he could. For when he and I first met I was on theway to get engaged to a man, named Hardwicke--a rich city man, rather abore, but a man who would make an excellent husband. Loudwater knew thatHardwicke was ready and eager to marry me, and I suppose that that helpedto make him keen on me. At any rate, he made love to me, not nearly sobadly as you'd think, and persuaded me to promise to marry him. "

"I can't think how you could have done it!" cried Mr. Manley. 

"How was I to know what a hog he was at home? At Trouville he was quitenice, as I tell you. Besides, there was the title--I thought I shouldlike to be Lady Loudwater. You know, I do have strong impulses, and Iact on them. "

"Well, after all, you didn't marry him, " said Mr. Manley in a tone ofrelief. "What did happen?"

"We were engaged for about two months. Then, about a month before thedate fixed for our marriage, he met Olivia Quainton, fell in love withher, and broke off our engagement a week before our wedding-day. "

"Well, of all the caddish tricks!" cried Mr. Manley. 

"You can imagine how furious I was. And I wasn't going to stand it--notfrom Loudwater, at any rate. I had learnt a good deal more about him inthe eleven weeks we were engaged, and, naturally, I wasn't pleased withwhat I had learnt. I set out to make myself very disagreeable. I saw himand did make myself very disagreeable. I told him a good many unpleasantthings about himself which made him much more furious than I was myself. "

"I'm glad some of it got through his thick skin, " said Mr. Manley. 

"A good deal of it did. Then I made it clear to him that he had robbed meof John Hardwicke and an excellent settlement in life, and told him thatI was going to bring an action for breach of promise against him. Thatcertainly got through his thick skin, for it's very painful to him tospend money on any one but himself. But he made terms at once, gave methis house furnished, and promised to allow me six hundred a year forlife. You don't think I was wrong to take it?" she added anxiously. 

"Certainly not, " said Mr. Manley quickly and firmly. 

Her face cleared and she said: "So many people would say that it was notnice my taking money for an injury like that. "

"Rubbish! It wasn't as if you'd been in love with him, " said Mr. Manleywith the firmest conviction. 

"That's the exact point. You do see things, " she said, smiling at himgratefully. "If I had been, it would have been quite different. "

"And how else were you to score off him except by hitting him in thepocket? That and his stomach are his only vulnerable points, " said Mr. Manley viciously. 

He was ignorant of Melchisidec's discovery of another. 

"They are. And he certainly had robbed me of an income. It was only fairthat he should make up for it, " she said rather plaintively. 

"Absolutely fair. "

"Well, those were the terms. The house is mine all right; it was properlymade over to me. But, stupidly, I didn't have a proper deed drawn upabout the money. I had his promise. One supposes that one can take theword of an English Peer. But I think that it's really all right. I havehis letters about it. "

"There's no saying. You'd better see a lawyer about it and find out. Butthis isn't a very dark past, " he said, and rose and came to her andkissed her. 

He was, indeed, relieved and reassured. In these circumstances the sixhundred a year was not an allowance at all. It was merely the payment ofa debt--a just debt. 

"But it won't be nearly so nice for us, if the hog does manage to cut thesix hundred down to three hundred. My husband only left me a hundred ayear, " she said, frowning. 

"To be with you will be perfection, whatever our income is, " said Mr. Manley, with ringing conviction, and he kissed her again. 

She smiled happily and said: "He shan't cut it down. I'll see that hedoesn't. When I've had a talk with him, he'll be glad enough to leave itas it is. "

"It's very likely that he's only trying it on. It's the kind of thing hewould do. But you'll find it difficult to get that talk. He's bent onshirking it, " said Mr. Manley. 

"I'll see that he doesn't get the chance of shirking it, " she said, andher eyes gleamed again. 

"I believe you're the only person in the world he's afraid of, " he saidin a tone of admiration. 

"I shouldn't wonder, " she said. "At any rate, I seem to be the onlyperson in the world to whom he's always been civil. At least, I've neverheard of any one else. "

"I'm afraid he won't be civil when you get that talk with him--if everyou do get it, " said Mr. Manley, frowning rather anxiously. 

"That'll be all the worse for him, " she said dauntlessly. "But, afterall, if I did fail to make him leave my income at six hundred, we shouldstill have this house and four hundred a year. We should still be quitecomfortable. Besides, you could keep on as his secretary, and that wouldbe another two hundred a year. "

"I can't do that! It's out of the question!" cried Mr. Manley. "I'mgetting so to loathe the brute that I shall soon be quite unable to standhim. As it is, I sometimes have a violent desire to wring his neck. Nowthat I know that he played this measly trick on you, it will be moreviolent than ever. Besides, we must have a flat in town. It's reallynecessary to my work! I can do my actual writing down here fairly well. But what I really need is to get in touch with the right people, with thepeople who are really stimulating. Besides, I'm gregarious; I like mixingwith people. "

"Yes. You're right. We must have a flat in town. Therefore, I must makethe hog keep to his bargain, and I will, " she said firmly. 

"I believe you may, " he said, gazing at her determined face withadmiring eyes. 

There was a pause. Then she said carelessly: "When are we going to tellpeople that we're engaged?"

"Not yet awhile, " said Mr. Manley quickly. "At least I don't want thepeople about here to know about it. And if you come to think of it, things being as they are, Loudwater would probably make himself moreinfernally disagreeable to me than he does at present. He'd not only tryto take it out of me to annoy you, but it's just as likely as not that hewould consider my getting engaged to you as poaching on hispreserves--infernal cheek. He's the most hopelessly vain andunreasonable sweep in the British Isles. "

"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if he did. He couldn't possibly helpbeing a dog in the manger, " she said thoughtfully. "And there's anotherthing. It has just occurred to me that if he tries to halve my income fornothing at all, he might try to stop it altogether if I got married. No;I must get that matter settled for good and all. I'll have that talk withhim at once. "

"If you can get it, " said Mr. Manley doubtfully. 

"I can get it, " she said confidently. "You must remember that, havinglived here for nearly two years, I know all about his habits. I shalltake him by surprise. But we've talked enough about these dull things;let's talk about something interesting. How's the play going?"

They talked about the play he was writing, and then they talked about oneanother. They had their afternoon tea soon after four, for Mr. Manley hadto return to the Castle to deal with any letters that the five o'clockpost might bring. 

At twenty minutes to five he left Mrs. Truslove and walked back to theCastle. He was truly in love with Helena. She was intelligent andappreciative. She was of his own class, with his own practical outlook onlife, born of having belonged to a middle-class family of moderate meanslike himself. She was the daughter of a country architect. He couldnowhere have found a more suitable wife. He was relieved about the matterof the reason why she received an allowance from Lord Loudwater; but hewas not relieved about the matter of its being halved. Seven hundred ayear had been an excellent income for the wife of a struggling playwrightto enjoy. It had promised him the full social life in which his geniuswould most rapidly develop. He had regarded that income with greatpleasure. Ever since Lord Loudwater had bidden him inform Helena of hisintention of halving her allowance he had been bitterly angered by thisbarefaced attempt to rob her and consequently her future husband. In thelight of her story the attempt had grown yet more disgraceful, and heresented it yet more bitterly. 

The further danger that Lord Loudwater might attempt to stop her incomealtogether if she married, though he perceived that it was a real, evenimminent danger, did not greatly trouble him. He was full of resentment, not fear. He felt that he loathed his employer more than ever and withmore reason. 

Holloway brought the post-bag to the library, and waited while Mr. Manley sorted the letters, that he might take those addressed to LadyLoudwater to her rooms and those addressed to the servants to thehousekeeper's room. 

As Mr. Manley inverted the bag and poured its contents on to the table, the footman said: "'Utchings 'as gone, sir. "

"We must bear up, " said Mr. Manley, in a tone wholly void of any sympathywith Hutchings in his misfortune. 

"He was that furious. The things 'e said 'e'd do to his lordship!" saidHolloway in a deeply-impressed tone. 

"Threatened men live long, " said Mr. Manley carelessly. 

CHAPTER III

There is in the collection of the Earl of Ellesmere a picture of the headof a girl which the connoisseurs of the nineteenth century ascribed toLeonardo da Vinci. The connoisseurs of the twentieth century ascribe itto Luini. But for the colour of the hair it might have been a portrait ofLady Loudwater, a faded portrait. It might also very well be a portraitof one of her actual ancestresses, for her grandmother was a lady of anold Tuscan family. 

Be that as it may, Lady Loudwater had the soft, dark, dreamy eyes, setrather wide apart, the straight, delicate nose, the alluring lips, promising all the kisses, the broad, well-moulded forehead, and thefaint, exactly curving eyebrows of the girl in the picture. Above all, when Lord Loudwater was not present, the mysterious, enchanting, lingering smile, which is perhaps the chief charm of Luini's women, rested nearly always on her face. But while the hair of the girl in thepicture is a deep, dull red, the hair of Olivia was dark brown withglimmers of gold in it. Also, her colouring was warmer than that of thegirl in the picture, and her alluring charm stronger. 

At a quarter to three that afternoon she came out on to the East lawn ina silk frock and hat of a green rather sombre for the summer day. She hadbeen bidden by a fashionable fortune-teller never to wear green, for itwas her unlucky colour. But that tint had so given her colouring its fullvalues and her dark, liquid eyes so deep a depth, that she had paid noheed to the warning. There was a bright light of expectation in her eyes, and the alluring smile lingered on her face. 

She walked quickly across the lawn with the easy, graceful gait proper tothe accomplished golfer she was, into the shrubbery on the other side ofit. A few feet along the path through it she looked sharply back over hershoulder. She saw no one at those windows of the East wing which lookedon to the lawn and shrubbery, but a movement on the lawn itself caughther eye. The cat Melchisidec was following her. She did not slacken herpace, but for a moment the smile faded from her face at the remembranceof her husband's outburst at breakfast. Then the smile returned, subtileand expectant. 

She did not wait for Melchisidec. She knew his way of pretending tofollow her like a dog; she knew that if she displayed any interest inhim, even showed that she was aware of his presence, he would probablycome no further. She went on at the same brisk pace till she came to thegate in the East wood. She went through it, shut it gently, paused, andagain looked back. All of the path through the shrubbery that she couldsee was empty. She turned and walked briskly along the narrow paththrough the wood, and came into the long, turf-paved aisle which ran atright angles to it. 

The middle of the aisle was deeply rutted by the wheels of the cartswhich had carried away the timber from the spring thinning of the wood. She turned to the left and sauntered slowly up the smooth turf along theside of the aisle, a brighter light of expectation in her eyes, her smileeven more mysterious and alluring. 

She had not gone fifty yards up the aisle when Colonel Grey came limpingout of the entrance of a path on the other side of it, and quickened hispace as he crossed it. 

She stood still, flushing faintly, gazing at him with her lips parted alittle. He looked, as he was, very young to be a Lieutenant-Colonel, anduncommonly fragile for a V. C. At any time he would look delicate, andhe was the paler for the fact that at times he still sufferedconsiderable pain from his wound. But there was force in his delicate, distinguished face. His sensitive lips could set very firm; his chin wassquare; his nose had a rather heavy bridge, and usually his grey eyeswere cold and very keen. He gave the impression of being wrought offinely-tempered steel. 

His eyes were shining so brightly at the moment that they had lost theirkeenness with their coldness. He marked joyfully the flush on her face, and did not know that he was flushing himself. 

About five feet away he stopped, gazing, or rather staring, at her, andsaid in a tone of fervent conviction: "Heavens, Olivia! What a beautifuland entrancing creature you are!"

She smiled, flushing more deeply. He stepped forward, took her hand, andheld it very tightly. 

"Goodness! But I have been impatient for you to come!" he cried. 

"I'm not late, " she said in her low, sweet, rather drawling voice. 

He let go of her hand and said: "I don't know how it is, but I've been asrestless as a cat all the morning. I'm never sure that you will be ableto come; and the uncertainty worries me. "

"But you saw me for three hours yesterday, " she said, moving forward. 

"Yesterday?" he said, falling into step with her. "Yesterday is athousand years away. I wasn't sure that you'd come today. "

"Why shouldn't I come?" she said. 

"Loudwater might have got to know of it and stopped you coming. "

"Fortunately he doesn't take enough interest in my doings. Of course, ifI didn't turn up at a meal, he'd make a fuss, though why he should makesuch a point of our having all our meals together I can't conceive. Ishould certainly enjoy mine much more if I had them in my sitting-room, "she said in a dispassionate tone, for all the world as if she werediscussing the case of some one else. 

"I _am_ so worried about you, " he said with a harassed air. "Ever sincethat evening I heard him bullying you I've been simply worried to deathabout it. "

"It was nice of you to interfere, but it was a pity, " she said gently. "It didn't do any good as far as his behaviour is concerned, and we sawso much more of one another when you could come to the Castle. "

"Then you do want to see more of me?" he said eagerly. 

Lady Loudwater lost her smiling air; she became demureness itself, andshe said: "Well, you see--thanks to Egbert's vile temper--we have sofew friends. "

Grey frowned; she was always quick to elude him. Then he growled: "What aname! Egbert!"

"He can't help that. It was given him. Besides, it's a family name, " shesaid in a tone of fine impartiality. 

"It would be. Hogbert!" said Grey contemptuously. 

Mrs. Truslove and Mr. Manley were not the only people to ignore theessential bullness of Lord Loudwater. 

They went on a few steps in silence; then she said: "Besides, I don'tmind his outbursts. I'm used to them. "

"I don't believe it! You're much too delicate and sensitive!" he cried. 

"But I _am_ getting used to them, " she protested. 

"You never will. Has he been bullying you again?" he said, lookinganxiously into her eyes. 

"Not more than usual, " she said in a wholly indifferent tone. 

"Then it is usual! I was afraid it was, " he said in a miserable voice. "What on earth is to be done about it?"

"Why, there's nothing to be done, except just grin and bear it, " she saidbravely enough, and with the conviction of one who has thought a matterout thoroughly. 

"Then it's monstrous! Just monstrous, that the most charming andloveliest creature in the world should be bullied by that infernalbrute!" he cried, and put his arm around her. 

The Countess was on the very point of slipping out of it when the catMelchisidec came out of the bushes a dozen yards ahead of them, andwith Melchisidec came a very distinct vision of Lord Loudwater'sflushed, distorted, and revolting face as he swore at her at breakfastthat morning. 

She did not slip out of the encircling arm, and Grey bent his head andkissed her lightly on the lips. 

It was the gentlest, lightest kiss, the kiss he might have given apretty child, just a natural tribute to beauty and charm. 

But the harm was done. The population of Great Britain cannot really bemore than one and a half persons to the acre, and the great majority ofthem live, thousands to the acre, in towns; yet it is indeed difficultto kiss a girl during the daytime in any given acre, however thicklywooded, without being seen by some superfluous sojourner on that acre;and whether, or no, it was that the green frock and hat brought theCountess the bad luck the fortuneteller had foretold, there was awitness to that kiss. 

Undoubtedly, too, it was not the right kind of witness. If it had been anindulgent elder not given to gossip, or a chivalrous young man not aversehimself from kisses, all might have been well. But William Roper, under-gamekeeper, was a young man without a spark of chivalry in him, andhe had been soured in the matter of kisses by the steadfast resolve ofthe young women of the village to suffer none from him. He was anunattractive young man, not unlike the ferrets he kept at his cottage. Hewas the last young man in the world, or at any rate in the neighbourhood, to keep silent about what he had seen. 

Even so, no great harm might have been done. He might have blabbed aboutthe matter in the village, and the whole village and the servants of theCastle might have talked about it for weeks and months, or even years, without it reaching the ears of Lord Loudwater. But William Roper saw inthat kiss his royal road to Fortune. Ambitious in the grain, he was notcontent with his post of under-gamekeeper; he desired to oust WilliamHutchings from the post of head-gamekeeper, and though there were twounder-gamekeepers senior to him with a greater claim on that post, occupyit himself. Here was the way to it; his lordship could not but begrateful to the man who informed him of such goings-on; he could not butpromote him to the post of his desire. 

He wholly misjudged his lordship. Ordinary gratitude was not one of hisattributes. 

Olivia slipped out of Grey's arm, and they walked on up the aisle. Butthey walked on, changed creatures--trembling, a little bemused. 

William Roper, the ill-favoured minister of Nemesis, followed them. 

At the top of the aisle they came to the pavilion, a small white marblebuilding in the Classic style, standing in the middle of a broad glade. 

As they went into it, Olivia said wistfully: "It's a pity I couldn't havetea sent here. "

"I did. At least I brought it, " said Grey, waving his hand towards abasket which stood on the table. "I knew you'd be happier for tea. "

"No one has ever been so thoughtful of me as you are, " she said, gazingat him with grateful, troubled eyes. 

"Let's hope that your luck is changing, " he said gravely, gazing at herwith eyes no less troubled. 

Then Melchisidec scratched at the door and mewed. Olivia let him in. Purring in the friendliest way, he rubbed his head against Grey's leg. Henever treated Lord Loudwater with such friendliness. 

William Roper chose a tree about forty yards from the pavilion and sethis gun against the trunk. Then he filled and lit his pipe, leaned backcomfortably against the trunk, hidden by the fringe of undergrowth, and, with his eyes on the door of the pavilion, waited. For Grey and Olivia, never dreaming of this patient watcher, the minutes flew; they had somany things to tell one another, so many questions to ask. At least Greyhad; Olivia, for the most part, listened without comment, unless theflush which waxed and waned should be considered comment, to the thingshe told her about herself and the many ways in which she affected him. For William Roper the minutes dragged; he was eager to start briskly upthe royal road to Fortune. He was a slow smoker and he smoked a strong, slow-burning twist; but he had nearly emptied the screw of paper whichheld it before they came out of the door of the pavilion. 

It was a still evening, but some drift of air had carried the rank smokefrom William Roper's pipe into the glade, and it hung there. Colonel Greyhad not taken five steps before his nostrils were assailed by it. 

"Damn!" he said softly. 

"What's the matter?" said Olivia. 

She was too deeply absorbed in Grey for her senses to be alert, andthe reek of William Roper's twist had reached her nostrils, but nother brain. 

"There's some one about, " he said. "Can't you smell his vile tobacco?"

"Bother!" said Olivia softly, and she frowned. They walked quietly on. Grey was careful not to look about him with any show of earnestness, forthere was nothing to be gained by letting the watcher know that they hadperceived his presence. Indeed, he would have seen nothing, for theundergrowth between him and the glade was too thin to form a good screen, and William Roper was now behind the tree-trunk. 

Thirty yards down the broad aisle Grey said in a low voice: "This is aninfernal nuisance!"

"Why?" said Olivia. 

"If it comes to Loudwater's ears, he'll make himself devilishlyunpleasant to you. "

"He can't make himself more unpleasant than he does, " she said, in a toneof quiet certitude and utter indifference. "But why shouldn't I have teawith you in the pavilion? It's what it's there for. "

"All the same, Loudwater will make an infernal fuss about it, if it getsto his ears. He'll bully you worse than ever, " he said in an unhappytone, frowning heavily. 

"What do I care about Loudwater--now?" she said, smiling at him, and shebrushed her fingertips across the back of his hand. 

He caught her fingers and held them for a moment, but the frowndid not lift. 

"The nuisance is that, whoever it was, he had been there a long time, " hesaid gravely. "The glade was full of the reek of his vile tobacco. Suppose he saw me kiss you in the drive here and then followed us?"

"Well, if you will do such wicked things in the open air--" shesaid, smiling. 

"It isn't a laughing matter, I'm afraid, " he said rather heavily, and frowning. 

"Well, I should have to consider your reputation and say that you didn't. It would be very bad for your career if it became known that you did suchthings, and Egbert would never rest till he had done everything he coulddo to injure you. I should certainly declare that you didn't, and you'dhave to do the same. "

"Oh, leave me out of it! Hogbert can't touch me. It's you I'm thinkingabout, " he said. 

"But there's no need to worry about me. I'm not afraid of Egbert anylonger, " she said, and her eyes, full of confidence and courage, met hissteadily. Then, resolved to clear the anxiety away from his mind, shewent on: "It's no use meeting trouble half-way. If some one did see us, Egbert may not get to hear of it for days, or weeks--perhaps never. "

She did not know that they had to reckon with the ambition ofWilliam Roper. 

"Lord, how I want to kiss you again!" he cried. 

"You'll have to wait till tomorrow, " she said. 

It was as well that he did not kiss her again, for fifty yards behindthem, stealing through the wood, came William Roper, all eyes. And he hadalready quite enough to tell. 

Grey walked with her through the rest of the wood and nearly to the endof the path through the shrubbery. She spared no effort to set his mindat ease, protesting that she did not care a rap how furiously her husbandabused her. A few yards from the edge of the East lawn they stopped, butthey lingered over their parting. She promised to meet him in the Eastwood at three on the morrow. 

She walked slowly across the lawn and up to her suite of rooms, thinkingof Grey. She changed into a _peignoir_, lit a cigarette, lay down on acouch, and went on thinking about him. She gave no thought to the matterof whether they had been watched. Lord Loudwater had become of lessinterest than ever to her; his furies seemed trivial. She had a feelingthat he had become a mere shadow in her life. 

As she lay smoking that cigarette William Roper was telling his story toLord Loudwater. He had waited in the wood till Colonel Grey had goneback through it; then he had walked briskly to the back door of theCastle and asked to see his lordship. Mary Hutchings, the secondhousemaid, who had answered his knock, took him to the servants' hall, and told Holloway what he asked. Both of them regarded him curiously;they themselves never wanted to see his lordship, though seeing him waspart of their jobs, and one who could go oat of his way to see him mustindeed be remarkable. William Roper was hardly remarkable. He was merelysomewhat repulsive. Holloway said that he would inquire whether hislordship would see him, and went. 

As he went out of the door William Roper said, with an air of greatimportance: "Tell 'is lordship as it's very partic'ler. "

Mary Hutchings' curiosity was aroused, and she tried to discover what itwas. All she gained by doing so was an acute irritation of her curiosity. William Roper grew mysterious to the very limits of aggravation, but hetold her nothing. 

Her irritation was not alleviated when he said darkly: "You'll 'ear allabout these goings-on in time. "

She wished to hear all about them then and there. 

Holloway came back presently, looking rather sulky, and said that hislordship would see William Roper. 

"Though why 'e should curse me because you want to see 'im verypartic'ler, I can't see, " he added, with an aggrieved air. 

He led the way, and for the first time in his life William Roper foundhimself entering the presence of the head of the House of Loudwaterwithout any sense of trepidation. He carried himself unusually uprightwith an air of conscious rectitude. 

Lord Loudwater was in the smoking-room in which he had that morning dealtwith his letters with Mr. Manley. It was his favourite room, hissmoking-room, his reading-room, and his office. He had been for a longride, and was now lying back in an easy chair, with a longwhisky-and-soda by his side, reading the _Pall Mall Gazette_. Inliterature his taste was blameless. 

Holloway, ushering William Roper into the room, said: "William Roper, m'lord, " and withdrew. 

Lord Loudwater went on reading the paragraph he had just begun. WilliamRoper gazed at him without any weakening of his courage, so strong washis conviction of the nobility of the duty he was discharging, andcleared his throat. 

Lord Loudwater finished the paragraph, scowled at the interrupter, andsaid: "Well, what is it? Hey? What do you want?"

"It's about 'er ladyship, your lordship. I thought your lordship oughterbe told about it--its not being at all the sort of thing as your lordshipwould be likely to 'old with. "

There are noblemen who would, on the instant, have bidden William Ropergo to the devil. Lord Loudwater was not of these. He set the newspaperdown beside the whisky-and-soda, leaned forward, and said in a hushedvoice: "What the devil are you talking about? Hey?"

"I seed Colonel Grey--the gentleman as is staying at the 'Cart and'Orses'--kiss 'er in the East wood, " said William Roper. 

The first emotion of Lord Loudwater was incredulous amazement. It was hisvery strong conviction that his wife was a cold-blooded, passionlesscreature, incapable of inspiring or feeling any warm emotion. He hadforgotten that he had married her for love--violent love. 

"You infernal liar!" he said in a rather breathless voice. 

"It ain't no lie, your lordship. What for should I go telling lies about'er?" said William Roper in an injured tone. 

Lord Loudwater stared at him. The fellow was telling the truth. 

"And what did she do? Hey? Did she smack his face for him?" he cried. 

"No. She let 'im do it, your lordship. "

"She did?" bellowed his lordship. 

"Yes. She didn't seem a bit put out, your lordship, " said WilliamRoper simply. 

"And what happened then?" bellowed Lord Loudwater, and he got to hisfeet. 

"They walked on to the pavilion, your lordship. An' they had their teathere. Leastways, I seed'er ladyship come to the door an' empty hot waterout of a tea-pot. "

"Tea? Tea?" said Lord Loudwater in the tone of one saying: "Arson!Arson!"

Then, in all his black wrath, he perceived that he must have himself inhand to deal with the matter. He took a long draught of whisky-and-soda, rose, walked across the room and back again, grinding his teeth, rollinghis eyes, and snapping the middle finger and thumb of his right hand. Never had the flush of rage been so deep in his face. It was almostpurple. Never had his eyes protruded so far from his head. 

He stopped and said thickly: "How long were they in the pavilion?"

"In the pavilion, your lordship? They were there a longish while--an hourand a half maybe, " said William Roper, with quiet pride in the impressionhis information had made on his employer. 

His employer looked at him as if it was the dearest wish of his heart toshake the life out of him then and there. It _was_ the dearest wish ofhis heart. But he refrained. It would be a senseless act to slay thegoose which lay these golden eggs of information. 

"All right. Get out! And keep your tongue between your teeth, or I'll cutit out for you! Do you understand? Hey?" he roared, approaching WilliamRoper with an air so menacing that the conscientious fellow backedagainst the door with his arm up to shield his face. 

"I ain't a-going to say a word to no one!" he cried. 

"You'd better not! Get out!" snarled his employer. 

William Roper got out. Trembling and perspiring freely, he walkedstraight through the Castle and out of the back door without pausing tosay a word to any one, though he heard the voice of Holloway discussinghis mysterious errand with Mary Hutchings in the servants' hall. He hadwalked nearly a mile before he succeeded in convincing himself that hisfeet were firmly set on the royal road to Fortune. His conviction wasill-founded. 

CHAPTER IV

For a good three minutes after the departure of William Roper the LordLoudwater walked up and down the smoking-room. His redly-glinting eyesstill rolled in a terrifying fashion, and still every few seconds hesnapped his fingers in the throes of an effort to make up his raging mindwhether to begin by an attack on his wife or on Colonel Grey. He couldnot remember ever having been so angry in his life; now and again his redeyes saw red. 

Then of a sudden he made up his mind that he was at the momentangrier with Colonel Grey. He would deal with him first. Olivia couldwait. He hurried out to the stables and bellowed for a horse withsuch violence that two startled grooms saddled one for him in littlemore than a minute. 

He made no attempt to think what he would say to Colonel Grey. He wastoo angry. He galloped the two miles to the "Cart and Horses" atBellingham, where Colonel Grey was staying, in order to restore hishealth and to fish. 

At the door of the inn he bellowed: "Ostler! Ostler!" Then withoutwaiting to see whether an ostler came, he threw the reins on his horse'sneck, left it to its own devices, strode into the tap-room, and bellowedto the affrighted landlady, Mrs. Turnbull, to take him straight toColonel Grey. Trembling, she led him upstairs to Grey's sitting-room onthe first floor. Before she could knock, he opened the door, bouncedthrough it, and slammed it. 

Grey was sitting at the other side of the table, looking through a bookof flies. He appeared to be quite unmoved by the sudden entry of theinfuriated nobleman, or by his raucous bellow:

"So here you are, you infernal scoundrel!"

He looked at him with a cold, distasteful eye, and said in a clear, veryunpleasant voice: "Another time knock before you come into my room. "

Lord Loudwater had not expected to be received in this fashion; dimly hehad seen Grey cowering. 

He paused, then said less loudly: "Knock? Hey? Knock? Knock at the doorof an infernal scoundrel like you?" His voice began to gather volumeagain. "Likely I should take the trouble! I know all about yourscoundrelly game. "

Colonel Grey remembered that Olivia had said that she proposed to denythe kiss, and his course was quite clear to him. 

"I don't know whether you're drunk, or mad, " he said in a quiet, contemptuous voice. 

This again was not what Lord Loudwater had expected. But Grey was astrong believer in the theory that the attacker has the advantage, andhe had an even stronger belief that an enemy in a fury is far lessdangerous than an enemy calm. 

"You're lying! You know I'm neither!" bellowed Lord Loudwater. "Youkissed Olivia--Lady Loudwater--in the East wood. You know you did. Youwere seen doing it. "

"You're raving, man, " said Colonel Grey quietly, in a yet moreunpleasant tone. 

The interview was not going as Lord Loudwater had seen it. He had toswallow violently before he could say: "You were seen doing it! Seen! Byone of my gamekeepers!"

"You must have paid him to say so, " said Colonel Grey with quietconviction. 

Lord Loudwater was a little staggered by the accusation. He gasped andstuttered: "D-D-Damn your impudence! P-P-Paid to say it!"

"Yes, paid, " said Colonel Grey, without raising his voice. "You happenedto hear that we had tea in the pavilion in the wood--probably from LadyLoudwater herself--and you made up this stupid lie and paid yourgamekeeper to tell it in order to score off her. It's exactly the dog'strick a bullying ruffian like you would play a woman. "

"D-D-Dog's trick? Me?" stammered Lord Loudwater, gasping. 

He was used to saying things of this kind to other people; not to havethem said to him. 

"Yes, you. You know that you're a wretched bully and cad, " said ColonelGrey, with just a little more warmth in his tone. 

Had Lord Loudwater's belief that William Roper had told him the truthabout the kiss been weaker, it might have been shaken by thewhole-hearted thoroughness of Grey's attack. But William Roper hadimpressed that belief on him deeply. He was sure that Grey had kissedLady Loudwater. 

The certainty spurred him to a fresh effort, and he cried: "It's no goodyour trying to humbug me--none at all. I've got evidence--plenty ofevidence! And I'm going to act on it, too. I'm going to hound you out ofthe Army and that jade of a wife of mine out of decent society. Do youthink, because I don't spend four or five months every year in thatrotten hole, London, I haven't got any influence? Hey? If you do, you'redamn well wrong. I've got more than enough twice over to clear ascoundrel like you out of the Army. "

"Don't talk absurd nonsense!" said Grey calmly. 

"Nonsense? Hey? Absurd nonsense?" howled Lord Loudwater on a new note ofexasperation. 

"Yes, nonsense. A disreputable cad like you can't hurt me in any way, andwell you know it, " said Grey with painstaking distinctness. 

"Not hurt you? Hey? I can't hurt the corespondent in a divorce case?Hey?" said Lord Loudwater rather breathlessly. 

"As if a man who has abused and bullied his wife as you have could get adivorce!" said Grey, and he laughed a gentle, contemptuous laugh, gallingbeyond words. 

It galled Lord Loudwater surely enough; he snapped his fingers four timesand gibbered. 

"I tell you what it is: I've had enough of your manners, " said Grey. "What you want is a lesson. And if I hear that you've been bullying LadyLoudwater about this simple matter of my having had tea with her, I'llgive it you--with a horsewhip. "

"You'll give me a lesson? You?" whispered Lord Loudwater, and he danced alittle frantically. 

"Yes. I'll give you the soundest thrashing any man hereabouts has had forthe last twenty years, if I have to begin by knocking your ugly head offyour shoulders, " said Grey, raising his clear voice, so that for thefirst time Mrs. Turnbull, trembling, but thrilled, on the landing, heardwhat was being said. 

The enunciation of Lord Loudwater had been thick, his words hadbeen slurred. 

"You? You thrash me?" he howled. 

"Yes, me. Now get out!"

Lord Loudwater gnashed his teeth at him and again snapped his fingers. Heburned to rush round the table and hammer the life out of Grey, but hecould not do it; violent words, not violent deeds, were hisaccomplishment. Moreover, there was something daunting in Grey's coldand steady eye. He snapped his fingers again, and, pouring out a streamof furious abuse, turned to the door and flung out of it. Mrs. Turnbullscuttled aside into Grey's bedroom. 

Half-way down the stairs Lord Loudwater paused to bellow: "I'll ruin youyet, you scoundrel! Mark my word! I _will_ hound you out of the Army!"

He flung out of the house and found that the ostler had taken his horseround to the stable, removed its bridle, and given it a feed of corn. Hecursed him heartily. 

Grey rose, shut the door, and laughed gently. Then he frowned. Of asudden he perceived that, natural as had been his manner of dealing withLord Loudwater, he had handled him badly. At least, it was possible thathe had handled him badly. It would have been wiser, perhaps, to have beensuave and firm rather than firm and provoking. But it was not likely thatsuavity would have been of much use; the brute would probably haveregarded it as weakness. But for Olivia's sake he ought probably to havetried to soothe him. As it was, the brute had gone raging off and wouldvent his fury on her. 

What had he better do?

He was not long perceiving that there was nothing that he could do. Thenatural thing was to go to the Castle and prevent her husband--by force, if need be--from abusing and bullying Olivia. That was what hisstrongest instincts bade him do. It was quite impossible. It wouldcompromise her beyond repair. He had done her harm enough by hisimpulsive indiscretion in the wood. His face slowly settled into a setscowl as he cudgelled his brains to find a way of coming effectually toher help. It seemed a vain effort, but a way had to be found. 

Lord Loudwater galloped half-way to the Castle in a furious haste topunish Olivia for allowing Grey to make love to her, and even more forthe contemptuous way in which Grey had treated him. He had hopes alsoof bullying her into a confession of the truth of William Roper'sstory. But Grey had excited him to a height of fury at which not evenhe could remain without exhaustion. In a reaction he reined in hishorse to a canter, then to a trot, and then to a walk. He found that hewas feeling tired. 

He continued, however, to chafe at his injuries, but with less vehemence, and he was still resolved to make a strong effort to draw the confessionfrom Olivia. On reaching the Castle, he did not go to her at once. He satdown in an easy chair in his smoking-room and drank twowhiskies-and-sodas. 

In the background of Olivia's mind, meditating pleasantly on her pleasantafternoon, there had been a patient and resigned expectation thatpresently her conscience would begin to reproach her for allowing Grey tomake love to her. But the minutes slipped by, and she did not begin tofeel that she had been wicked. The meditation remained pleasant. At lastshe realized suddenly that she was not going to feel wicked. She wassurprised and even a trifle horror-stricken by her insensibility. Then, fairly faced by it, she came to the conclusion that, in a woman cursedwith such a brute of a husband, such insensibility was not only natural, it was even proper. 

Her woman's craving to be loved and to love was the strongest of heremotions, and it had gone unsatisfied for so long. Her husband hadkilled, or rather extirpated, her fondness for him before they had beenmarried a month. She was inclined to believe that she had never reallyloved him at all. He had certainly ceased to love her before they hadbeen married a fortnight, if, indeed, he had ever loved her at all. Shehad no child; she was an orphan without sisters or brothers. Her husbandlet her see but little of the friends who were fond of her. She began tosuspect that her conscience did not reproach her because she had merelyacted on her natural right to love and be loved. This conclusion broughther mind again to the consideration of Antony Grey, and again she let herthoughts dwell on him. 

The gong, informing her that it was time to dress for dinner, interruptedthis pleasant occupation. She had her bath, put herself into the hands ofher maid, Elizabeth Twitcher, and resumed her meditation. She was atonce so deeply absorbed in it that she did not observe her maid's sullenand depressed air. 

She was presently interrupted again, and in a manner far more violent andstartling than the summons of the gong. The door was jerked open, and herrefreshed husband strode into the room. 

"I know all about your little game, madam!" he cried. "You've beenletting that blackguard Grey make love to you! You kissed him in the Eastwood this afternoon!"

The mysterious smile faded from the face of Olivia, and an expression ofthe most natural astonishment took its place. 

"I sometimes think that you are quite mad, Egbert, " she said in her slow, musical voice. 

Elizabeth Twitcher continued her deft manipulation of a thick strand ofhair without any change in her sullen and depressed air. To all seeming, she was uninterested, or deaf. 

Lord Loudwater had expected, in the face of Olivia's gentleness, to haveto work himself up to a proper height of indignant fury by degrees. Theecho of Grey's accusation from the mouth of his wife raised him to it onthe instant and without an effort. 

"Don't lie to me!" he bellowed. "It's no good whatever! I tellyou, I know!"

Olivia was surprised to find herself wholly free from her old fear ofhim. The fact that she was in love with Grey and he with her had alreadyworked a change in her. These were the only things in the world of anyreal importance. That clear knowledge gave her a new confidence and a newstrength. Her husband had been able to frighten her nearly out of herwits. Now he could not; and she could use them. 

"I'm not lying at all. I really do believe you're mad--often, " she saidvery distinctly. 

Once more Lord Loudwater was compelled to grind his teeth. Then helaughed a harsh, barking laugh, and cried: "It's no good! I've just hada short interview with that scoundrel Grey. And I put the fear of Godinto him, I can tell you. I made him admit that you'd kissed him in theEast wood. "

For a breath Olivia was taken aback. Then she perceived clearly that itwas a lie. He could not put the fear of God into Grey. Besides, Grey hadkissed her, not she him. 

"It's you who are lying, " she said quickly and with spirit. "How couldColonel Grey admit a thing that never happened?"

Lord Loudwater perceived that it was going to be harder to wring theconfession from her than he had expected. Checked, he paused. ThenElizabeth Twitcher caught his attention. 

"Here: you--clear out!" he said. 

Elizabeth Twitcher caught her mistress's eye in the glass. Oliviamade no sign. 

"I can't leave her ladyship's hair in this state, your lordship, " saidElizabeth Twitcher with sullen firmness. 

"You do as you're told and clear out!" bellowed his lordship. 

"I don't want to be half an hour late for dinner, " said Olivia, acceptingthe diversion and ready to make the most of it. 

Elizabeth Twitcher looked at Lord Loudwater, saw more clearly thanever his likeness to the loathed James Hutchings, and made up her mindto do nothing that he bade her do. She went on dressing her mistress'shair sullenly. 

"Are you going? Or am I to throw you out of the room?" cried LordLoudwater in a blustering voice. 

"Don't be silly, Egbert!" said Olivia sharply. 

From the height of her new emotional experience she felt that her husbandwas merely a noisy and obnoxious boy. This was, indeed, quite plain toher. She felt years older than he and very much wiser. 

Lord Loudwater, with a quite unusual glimmer of intelligence, perceivedthat bringing Elizabeth Twitcher into the matter had been a mistake. Ithad weakened his main action. In a less violent but more malevolentvoice he said:

"Silly? Hey? I'll show you all about that, you little jade! You clearout of this first thing to-morrow morning. My lawyers will settle yourhash for you. I'll deal with that blackguard Grey myself. I'll hound himout of the Army inside of a month. Perhaps it'll be a consolation to youto know that you've done him in as well as yourself. "

He turned on his heel, left the room with a positively melodramaticstride, and slammed the door behind him. 

Olivia was stricken by a sudden panic. She had lost all fear of herhusband as far as she herself was concerned. He had become a mereoffensive windbag. She did not care whether he did, or did not, try todivorce her. Even on the terms of so great a scandal it would be a cheapdeliverance. But Antony was another matter. . . . She could not bear that heshould be ruined on her account. . . . It was intolerable . . . Not to bethought of. . . . She must find some way of preventing it. 

She began to cudgel her brains for that way of preventing it, but invain. She could devise no plan. The more she considered the matter, theworse it grew. She could not bear to be associated in Antony's mind withdisaster; she desired most keenly to stand for everything that waspleasant and delightful in his life. She would not let her brute of ahusband spoil both their lives. He had already spoiled enough of hers. 

After his injunction to her to leave the Castle first thing nextmorning, she took it that they would hardly dine together, and toldElizabeth Twitcher to tell Wilkins to serve her dinner in her boudoir. Also, she refused to put on an evening gown, saying that the _peignoir_she was wearing was more comfortable on such a hot night. Last of all, she told her to pack some of her clothes that night. 

Elizabeth Twitcher, stirred somewhat out of her brooding on her owntroubles by this trouble of her mistress, looked at her thoughtfully andsaid: "I shouldn't go, m'lady. It'll look as if you agreed with what hislordship said. And it's only William Roper as has been telling theselies. He asked to see his lordship about something very partic'ler beforehis lordship went out. And who's going to pay any heed to William Roper?"

"William Roper? Who is William Roper? What kind of a man is he?" saidOlivia quickly. 

"He's an under-gamekeeper, m'lady, and the biggest little beast on theestate. Everybody hates William Roper, " said Elizabeth with conviction. 

This was satisfactory as far as it went. The worse her husband's evidencewas the freer it left her to take her own course of action. But it was nogreat comfort, for she was but little concerned about the harm he coulddo her. Indeed, she was only concerned about the harm he could do Antony. She returned to her search for a method of preventing that harm duringher dinner, and after her dinner she continued that search without anysuccess. This injury to Antony, for her the central fact of thesituation, weighed on her spirit more and more heavily. 

The longer she pondered it the more harassed she grew. The most fantasticschemes for baulking her husband and saving Antony came thronging intoher mind. She rose and walked restlessly up and down the room, workingherself up into a veritable fever. 

Mr. Manley, having dealt with the letters which had come by thefive-o'clock post, read half a dozen chapters of the last published novelof Artzybachev with the pleasure he never failed to draw from the worksof that author. Then he dressed and set forth, in a very cheerful spirit, to dine with Helena Truslove. His cheerful expectations were whollyfulfilled. She had divined that he was endowed, not only with a romanticspirit, but with a hearty and discriminating appetite, and was careful togive him good food and wine and plenty of both. With his coffee he smokedone of Lord Loudwater's favourite cigars. Expanding naturally, he talkedwith spirit and intelligence during dinner, and made love to her afterdinner with even more spirit and intelligence. As a rule, he stayed onthe nights he dined with her till a quarter to eleven. But that night shedismissed him at ten o'clock, saying that she was feeling tired andwished to go to bed early. Smoking another of Lord Loudwater's favouritecigars, he walked briskly back to the Castle, more firmly convinced thanever that every possible step must be taken to prevent any diminution ofthe income of a woman of such excellent taste in food and wine. It wouldbe little short of a crime to discourage the exercise of her fine naturalgift for stimulating the genius of a promising dramatist. 

He was not in the habit of going to bed early, and having put on slippersand an old and comfortable coat, he once more turned to the novel byArtzybachev. He read two more chapters, smoking a pipe, and then hebecame aware that he was thirsty. 

He could have mixed himself a whisky and soda then and there, for he hadboth in the cupboard, in his sitting-room. But he was a stickler for theproprieties: he had drunk red wine, Burgundy with his dinner and portafter it, and after red wine brandy is the proper spirit. There would bebrandy in the tantalus in the small dining-room. 

He went quietly down the stairs. The big hall, lighted by a singleelectric bulb, was very dim, and he took it that, as was their habit, theservants had already gone to bed. As he came to the bottom of the stairsthe door at the back of the hall opened; James Hutchings came through thedoorway and shut the door quietly behind him. 

Mr. Manley stood still. James Hutchings came very quietly down the hall, saw him, and started. 

"Good evening, Hutchings. I thought you'd left us, " said Mr. Manley, in arather unpleasant tone. 

"You may take your oath to it!" said James Hutchings truculently, in amuch more unpleasant tone than Mr. Manley had used. "I just came back toget a box of cigarettes I left in the cupboard of my pantry. I don't wantany help in smoking them from any one here. "

He opened the library door gently, went quietly through it, and drew itto behind him, leaving Mr. Manley frowning at it. It was a fact thatHutchings carried a packet, which might very well have been cigarettes;but Mr. Manley did not believe his story of his errand. He took it thathe was leaving the Castle by one of the library windows. Well, it was nobusiness of his. 

At a few minutes past eight the next morning he was roused from thedeep dreamless sleep which follows good food and good wine welldigested, by a loud knocking on his door. It was not the loud, steadyand prolonged knocking which the third housemaid found necessary towake him. It was more vigorous and more staccato and jerkier. Also, avoice was calling loudly:

"Mr. Manley, sir! Mr. Manley! Mr. Manley!"

For all the noise and insistence of the calling Mr. Manley did not awakequickly. It took him a good minute to realize that he was Herbert Manleyand in bed, and half a minute longer to gather that the knocking andcalling were unusual and uncommonly urgent. He sat up in bed and yawnedterrifically. 

Then he slipped out of bed--the knocking and calling stillcontinued--unlocked the door, and found Holloway, the second footman, onthe threshold looking scared and horror-stricken. 

"Please, sir, his lordship's dead!" he cried. "He's bin murdered! Stabbedthrough the 'eart!"

CHAPTER V

"Murdered? Lord Loudwater?" said Mr. Manley with another terrific yawn, and he rubbed his eyes. Then he awoke completely and said: "Send a groomfor Black the constable at once. Yes--and tell Wilkins to telephone thenews to the Chief Inspector at Low Wycombe. Hurry up! I'll get dressedand be down in a few minutes. Hurry up!"

Holloway turned to go. 

"Stop!" said Mr. Manley. "Tell Wilkins to see that no one disturbs LadyLoudwater. I'll break the news myself when she is dressed. "

"Yes, sir, " said Holloway, and ran down the corridor. 

Mr. Manley was much quicker than usual making his toilet, but thorough. He foresaw a hard and trying day before him, and he wished to start itfresh and clean. He would come into contact with new people; he sawhimself playing an important rôle in a most important affair; he wouldnaturally and as usual make himself valued. A slovenly air did notconduce to that. It seemed fitting to put on his darkest tweed suit and ablack necktie. 

When he came--briskly for him--downstairs he found a group of womenservants in the hall, outside the door of the smoking-room, three of themsnivelling, and Wilkins and Holloway in the smoking-room itself, standingand staring with a wholly helpless air at the body of Lord Loudwater, huddled in the easy chair in which he had been wont to sleep after dinnerevery evening. 

"He's been stabbed, sir. There's that knife which was in the inkstand onthe library table stickin' in 'is 'eart, " said Wilkins in a dismal voice. 

Mr. Manley glanced at the dead man. He looked to have been stabbed as heslept. His body had sagged down in the chair, and his head was sunkbetween his shoulders, so that he appeared almost neckless. His once soflorid face was of an even, dead, yellowish pallor. 

Mr. Manley's glance at the dead man was brief. Then he saw that the doorbetween the smoking-room and the library was ajar. He could not see thelibrary windows without crossing the smoking-room. That he would not do. He was a stickler for correctness in all matters, and he knew that thescene of a crime must be left untrampled. 

He turned and said: "We will leave everything just as it is till thepolice come. And telephone at once to Doctor Thornhill, and ask him tocome. If he is out, tell them to get word to him, Wilkins. "

Wilkins and Holloway filed out of the room before him; he followed themout, locked the door and put the key in his pocket. Then he opened thedoor from the hall into the library. The long window nearest thesmoking-room door was open. 

The group of servants were all watching him; never had he moved oracted with an air of graver or greater importance. His portliness gaveit weight. 

"Has any of you opened the windows of the library this morning?" he said. 

No one answered. 

Then Mrs. Carruthers, the housekeeper, said: "Clarke does the libraryevery morning. Have you done it this morning, Clarke?"

"No, mum. I hadn't finished the green droring-room when Mr. Hollowaybrought the sad news, " said one of the housemaids. 

Mr. Manley locked the library door and put that key also in his pocket. 

Then he said in a tone of authority: "I think, Mrs. Carruthers, that thesooner we all have breakfast the better. I for one am going to have ahard day, and I shall need all my strength. We all shall. "

"Certainly, Mr. Manley. You're quite right. We shall all need ourstrength. You shall have your breakfast at once. I'll have it sent tothe little dining-room. You would like to be on the spot. Come along, girls. Wilkins, and you, Holloway, get on with your work as quickly asyou can, " said Mrs. Carruthers, driving her flock before her towards theservants' quarters. 

"Thank you. And will you see that no one wakes Lady Loudwater beforeher usual hour, or tells her what has happened? I will tell her myselfand try to break the news with as little of a shock as possible, " saidMr. Manley. 

"Twitcher hasn't bin downstairs yet. She doesn't know anything about it, "said one of the maids. 

"Send her straight to me--to the terrace when she does come down, " saidMr. Manley, walking towards the hall door. 

He felt that after the sight of the dead man's face the fresh morning airwould do him good. 

There came a sudden burst of excited chatter from the women as theypassed beyond the door into the back of the Castle. All their tonguesseemed to be loosed at once. Mr. Manley went out of the Castle door, crossed the drive, and walked up and down the lawn. He took long breathsthrough his nostrils; the sight of the dead man's yellowish face had beenunpleasant indeed to a man of his sensibility. 

In about five minutes Elizabeth Twitcher came out of the big door andacross the lawn to him. She was looking startled and scared. 

"Mrs. Carruthers said you wished to speak to me, sir?" she said quickly. 

"Yes. I propose to break the news of this very shocking affair to LadyLoudwater myself. She's rather fragile, I fancy. And I think that itneeds doing with the greatest possible tact--so as to lessen the shock, "said Mr. Manley in an impressive voice. 

Elizabeth Twitcher gazed at him with a growing suspicion in her eyes. Then she said: "It isn't--it isn't a trap?"

"A trap? What kind of a trap? What on earth do you mean?" said Mr. Manley, in a not unnatural bewilderment at the odd suggestion. 

"You might be trying to take her off her guard, " said Elizabeth Twitcherin a tone of deep suspicion. 

"Her guard against what?" said Mr. Manley, still bewildered. 

Elizabeth's Twitcher's eyes lost some of their suspicion, and he heardher breathe a faint sigh of relief. 

"I thought as 'ow--as how some of them might have told you what hislordship was going to do to her, and that she--she stuck that knife intohim so as to stop it, " she said. 

"What on earth are you talking about? What was his lordship going to doto her?" cried Mr. Manley, in a tone of yet greater bewilderment. 

"He was going to divorce her ladyship. He told her so last night when Iwas doing her hair for dinner, " said Elizabeth Twitcher. 

She paused and stared at him, frowning. Then she went on: "And, like afool, I went and talked about it--to some one else. "

Mr. Manley glared at her in a momentary speechlessness; then found hisvoice and cried: "But, gracious heavens! You don't suspect her ladyshipof having murdered Lord Loudwater?"

"No, I don't. But there'll be plenty as will, " said Elizabeth Twitcherwith conviction. 

"It's absurd!" cried Mr. Manley. 

Elizabeth Twitcher shook her head. 

"You must allow as she had reason enough--for a lady, that is. He wasalways swearing at her and abusing her, and it isn't at all the kind ofthing a lady can stand. And this divorce coming on the top of it all, "she said in a dispassionate tone. 

"You mustn't talk like this! There's no saying what trouble you maymake!" cried Mr. Manley in a tone of stern severity. 

"I'm not going to talk like that--only to you, sir. You're a gentleman, and it's safe. What I'm afraid of is that I've talked too muchalready--last night that is, " she said despondently. 

"Well, don't make it worse by talking any more. And let me know when yourmistress is dressed, and I'll come up and break the news of this shockingaffair to her. "

"Very good, sir, " said Elizabeth, and with a gloomy face and depressedair she went back into the Castle. 

She had scarcely disappeared, when Holloway came out to tell Mr. Manleythat his breakfast was ready for him in the little dining-room. Mr. Manley set about it with the firmness of a man preparing himself againsta strenuous day. The frown with which Elizabeth Twitcher's suggestion hadpuckered his brow faded from it slowly, as the excellence of the chop hewas eating soothed him. Holloway waited on him, and Mr. Manley asked himwhether any of the servants had heard anything suspicious in the night. Holloway assured him that none of them had. 

Mr. Manley had just helped himself a second time to eggs and bacon whenWilkins brought in Robert Black, the village constable. Mr. Manley hadseen him in the village often enough, a portly, grave man, who regardedhis position and work with the proper official seriousness. Mr. Manleytold him that he had locked the door of the smoking-room and of thelibrary, in order that the scene of the crime might be left undisturbedfor examination by the Low Wycombe police. Robert Black did not appearpleased by this precaution. He would have liked to demonstrate hisimportance by making some preliminary investigations himself. Mr. Manleydid not offer to hand the keys over to him. He intended to have thecredit of the precautions he had taken with the constable's superiors. 

He said: "I suppose you would like to question the servants to beginwith. Take the constable to the servants' hall, give him a glass of beer, and let him get to work, Wilkins. "

He spoke in the imperative tone proper to a man in charge of such animportant affair, and Robert Black went. Mr. Manley could not see thatthe grave fellow could do any harm by his questions, or, for thatmatter, any good. 

He finished his breakfast and lighted his pipe. Elizabeth Twitcher cameto tell him that Lady Loudwater was dressed. He told her to tell her thathe would like to see her, and followed her up the stairs. The maid wentinto Lady Loudwater's sitting-room, came out, and ushered him into it. 

His strong sense of the fitness of things caused him to enter the roomslowly, with an air grave to solemnity. Olivia greeted him with a faint, rather forced smile. 

He thought that she was paler than usual, and lacked something of herwonted charm. She seemed rather nervous. She thought that he had comefrom her husband with an unpleasant and probably most insulting message. 

He cleared his throat and said in the deep, grave voice he feltappropriate: "I've come on a very painful errand, Lady Loudwater--a verypainful errand. "

"Indeed?" she said, and looked at him with uneasy, anxious eyes. 

"I'm sorry to tell you that Lord Loudwater has had an accident, a verybad accident, " he said. 

"An accident? Egbert?" she cried, in a tone of surprise that soundedgenuine enough. 

It gave Mr. Manley to understand that she had expected some other kind ofpainful communication--doubtless about the divorce Lord Loudwater hadthreatened. But he had composed a series of phrases leading up by a nicegradation to the final announcement, and he went on: "Yes. There is verylittle likelihood of his recovering from it. "

Olivia looked at him queerly, hesitating. Then she said: "Do you meanthat he's going to be a cripple for life?"

"I mean that he will not live to be a cripple, " said Mr. Manley, pleasedto insert a further phrase into his series. 

"Is it as bad as that?" she said, in a tone which again gave Mr. Manleythe impression that she was thinking of something else and had notrealized the seriousness of his words. 

"I'm sorry to say that it's worse than that. Lord Loudwater is dead, " hesaid, in his deepest, most sympathetic voice. 

"Dead?" she said, in a shocked tone which sounded to him rather forced. 

"Murdered, " he said. 

"Murdered?" cried Olivia, and Mr. Manley had the feeling that there wasless surprise than relief in her tone. 

"I have sent for Dr. Thornhill and the police from Low Wycombe, " he said. "They ought to have been here before this. And I am going to telegraph toLord Loudwater's solicitors. You would like to have their help as soon aspossible, I suppose. There seems nothing else to be done at the moment. "

"Then you don't know who did it?" said Olivia. 

Her tone did not display a very lively interest in the matter or anygreat dismay, and Mr. Manley felt somewhat disappointed. He had expectedmuch more emotion from her than she was displaying, even though the deathof her ill-tempered husband must be a considerable relief. He hadexpected her to be shocked and horror-stricken at first, before sherealized that she had been relieved of a painful burden. But she seemedto him to be really less moved by the murder of her husband than shewould have been, had the Lord Loudwater carried out his not infrequentthreat of shooting, or hanging, or drowning the cat Melchisidec. 

"No one so far seems to be able to throw any light at all on the crime, "said Mr. Manley. 

Olivia frowned thoughtfully, but seemed to have no more to say onthe matter. 

"Well, then, I'll telegraph to Paley and Carrington, and ask Mr. Carrington to come down, " said Mr. Manley. 

"Please, " said Olivia. 

Mr. Manley hesitated; then he said: "And I suppose that I'd better begetting some one to make arrangements about the funeral?"

"Please do everything you think necessary, " said Olivia. "In fact, you'dbetter manage everything till Mr. Carrington comes. A man is much betterat arranging important matters like this than a woman. "

"You may rely on me, " said Mr. Manley, with a reassuring air, and greatlypleased by this recognition of his capacity. "And allow me to assure youof my sincerest sympathy. "

"Thank you, " said Olivia, and then with more animation and interest sheadded: "And I suppose I shall want some black clothes. "

"Shall I write to your dressmaker?" said Mr. Manley. 

"No, thank you. I shall be able to tell her what I want better myself. "

Mr. Manley withdrew in a pleasant temper. It was true that as a studentof dramatic emotion he had been disappointed by the calmness with whichOlivia had received the news of the murder; but she had instructed him todo everything he thought fit. He saw his way to controlling thesituation, and ruling the Castle till some one with a better right shouldsupersede him. He was halfway along the corridor before he realized thatOlivia had asked no single question about the circumstance of the crime. Indifference could go no further. But--he paused, considering--was itindifference? Could she--could she have known already?

As he came down the stairs Wilkins opened the door of the big hall, and aman of medium height, wearing a tweed suit and carrying a soft hat and aheavy malacca cane, entered briskly. He looked about thirty. On his heelscame a tall, thin police inspector in uniform. 

Mr. Manley came forward, and the man in the tweed suit said: "My name isFlexen, George Flexen. I'm acting as Chief Constable. Major Arbuthnot isaway for a month. I happened to be at the police station at Low Wycombewhen your news came, and I thought it best to come myself. This isInspector Perkins. "

Mr. Manley introduced himself as the secretary of the murdered man, andwith an air of quiet importance told Mr. Flexen that Lady Loudwater hadput him in charge of the Castle till her lawyer came. Then he took thekeys of the smoking-room and the library door from his pocket and said:

"I locked up the room in which the dead body is, and the library throughwhich there is also access to it, leaving everything just as it was whenthe body was found. I do not think that any traces which the criminal hasleft, if, that is, he has left any, can have been obliterated. "

He spoke with the quiet pride of a man who has done the right thing inan emergency. 

"That's good, " said Mr. Flexen, in a tone of warm approval. "Itisn't often that we get a clear start like that. We'll examine theserooms at once. "

Mr. Manley went to the door of the smoking-room and was about to unlockit, when Dr. Thornhill, a big, bluff man of fifty-five, bustled in. Mr. Manley introduced him to Mr. Flexen; then he unlocked the door andopened it. 

The doctor was leading the way into the smoking-room when Mr. Flexenstepped smartly in front of him and said: "Please stay outside all ofyou. I'll make the examination myself first. "

He spoke quietly, but in the tone of a man used to command. 

"But, for anything we know, his lordship may still be alive, " said Dr. Thornhill in a somewhat blustering tone, and pushing forward. "As hismedical adviser, it's my duty to make sure at once. "

"I'll tell you whether Lord Loudwater is alive or not. Don't let any onecross the threshold, Perkins, " said Mr. Flexen, with quiet decision. 

Perkins laid a hand on the doctor's arm, and the doctor said: "A nice wayof doing things! Arbuthnot would have given his first attention to hislordship!"

"I'm going to, " said Mr. Flexen quietly. 

He went to the dead man, looked in his pale face, lifted his hand, letit fall, and said: "Been dead hours. "

Then he examined carefully the position of the knife. He was more than aminute over it. Then he drew it gingerly from the wound by the ring atthe end of it. It was one of these Swedish knives, the blades of whichare slipped into the handle when they are not being used. 

"I think that's the knife that lay, open, in the big ink-stand in thelibrary. We used it as a paper-knife, and to cut string with, " said Mr. Manley, who was watching him with most careful attention. 

"It may have some evidence on the handle, " said Mr. Flexen, still holdingit by the ring, and he drove the point of it into the pad of blottingpaper on which Mr. Manley had been wont to write letters at the murderedman's dictation. 

"And how am I to tell whether the wound was self-inflicted, or not?"cried the doctor in an aggrieved tone. 

"If you will get some of the servants, you can remove the body to anyroom convenient and make your examination. It's a clean stab into theheart, and it looks to me as if the person who used that knife had someknowledge of anatomy. Most people who strike for the heart get the middleof the left lung, " said Mr. Flexen. 

So saying, he gently drew the easy chair, in which the body was huddled, nearer the door by its back. Mr. Manley bade Holloway fetch Wilkins andtwo of the grooms, and then, eager for hints of the actions of adetective, so useful to a dramatist, gave all his attention again to theproceedings of Mr. Flexen, who was down on one knee on the spot in whichthe chair had stood, studying the carpet round it. He rose and walkedslowly towards the door which opened into the library, paused on thethreshold to bid Perkins examine the chair and the clothes of themurdered man, and went into the library. 

He was still in it when the footman and the grooms lifted the body ofLord Loudwater out of the chair, and carried it up to his bedroom. Mr. Manley stayed on the threshold of the smoking-room. His interest in thedoings of Mr. Flexen forbade him leaving it to superintend decorously theremoval of the body. 

Presently Mr. Flexen came back, and as he walked round the room, examining the rest of it, especially the carpet, Mr. Manley studied theman himself, the detective type. He was about five feet eight, broad-shouldered out of proportion to that height, but thin. He had anuncommonly good forehead, a square, strong chin, a hooked nose and thin, set lips, which gave him a rather predatory air, belied rather by hispleasant blue eyes. The sun wrinkles round their corners and his sallowcomplexion gave Mr. Manley the impression that he had spent some years inthe tropics and suffered for it. 

When Mr. Flexen had examined the room, though Inspector Perkins hadalready done so, he felt round the cushions of the easy chair in whichLord Loudwater had been stabbed, found nothing, and stood beside it inquiet thought. 

Then he looked at Mr. Manley and said: "The murderer must have been someone with whom Lord Loudwater was so familiar that he took no notice ofhis or her movements, for he came up to him from the front, or walkedround the chair to the front of him, and stabbed him with a quitestraightforward thrust. Lord Loudwater should have actually seen theknife--unless by any chance he was asleep. "

"He was sure to be asleep, " said Mr. Manley quickly. "He always did sleepin the evening--generally from the time he finished his cigar till hewent to bed. I think he acquired the habit from coming back from hunting, tired and sleepy. Besides, I came down for a drink between eleven andtwelve, and I'm almost sure I heard him snore. He snored like the devil. "

"Slept every evening, did he? That puts a different complexion on thebusiness, " said Mr. Flexen. "The murderer need _not_ have been any onewith whom he was familiar. "

"No. He need not. But are you quite sure that the wound wasn'tself-inflicted--that it wasn't a case of suicide?" said Mr. Manley. 

"No, I'm not; and I don't think that that doctor--what's his name?Thornhill--can be sure either. But why should Lord Loudwater havecommitted suicide?"

"Well, he had found out, or thought he had found out, something aboutLady Loudwater, and was threatening to start an action against her fordivorce. At least, so her maid told me this morning. And as he whollylacked balance, he might in a fury of jealousy have made away withhimself, " said Mr. Manley thoughtfully. 

"Was he so fond of Lady Loudwater?" said Mr. Flexen in a somewhatdoubtful tone. 

He had heard stories about Lord Loudwater's treatment of his wife. 

"He didn't show any great fondness for her, I'm bound to say. In fact, he was always bullying her. But he wouldn't need to be very fond of anyone to go crazy with jealousy about her. He was a man of strong passionsand quite unbalanced. I suppose he had been so utterly spoilt as achild, a boy, and a young man, that he never acquired any power ofself-control at all. "

"M'm, I should have thought that in that case he'd have been more likelyto murder the man, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"He was, " said Mr. Manley in ready agreement. "But the other's alwayspossible. "

"Yes; one has to bear every possibility in mind, " said Mr. Flexen. "I'veheard that he was a bad-tempered man. "

"He was the most unpleasant brute I ever came across in my life, " saidMr. Manley with heartfelt conviction. 

"Then he had enemies?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Scores, I should think. But, of course, I don't know. Only I can'tconceive his having had a friend, " said Mr. Manley in a tone of somebitterness. 

"Then it's certainly a case with possibilities, " said Mr. Flexen in apleased tone. "But I expect that the solution will be quite simple. Itgenerally is. "

He said it rather sadly, as if he would have much preferred the solutionto be difficult. 

"Let's hope so. A big newspaper fuss will be detestable for LadyLoudwater. She's a charming creature, " said Mr. Manley. 

"So I've heard. Do you know who the man was that Loudwater was making afuss about?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Probably the maid, Elizabeth Twitcher, will be able to tell you, " said Mr. Manley. 

Mr. Flexen walked across the room and drew the knife out of the pad ofblotting-paper by the ring in its handle, and studied it. 

"I suppose this is the knife that was in the library? They're prettycommon, " he said. 

Mr. Manley came to him, looked at it earnestly, and said: "That's it allright. I tried to sharpen it a day or two ago, so that it would sharpen apencil. I generally leave my penknife in the waist-coat I'm not wearing. But I couldn't get it sharp enough. It's rotten steel. "

"All of them are, but good enough for a stab, " said Mr. Flexen. 

CHAPTER VI

Olivia had very little appetite for breakfast. It is to be doubted, indeed, whether she was aware of what she was eating. Elizabeth Twitcherhovered about her, solicitous, pressing her to eat more. She was fond ofher mistress, and very uneasy lest she should have harmed her seriouslyby her careless gossiping the night before. But she was surprised by theexceedingly anxious and worried expression which dwelt on Olivia's face. Her air grew more and more harassed. The murder of her husband haddoubtless been a shock, but he had been such a husband. ElizabethTwitcher had expected her mistress to cry a little about his death, andthen grow serene as she realized what a good riddance it was. But Oliviahad not cried, and she showed no likelihood whatever of becoming serene. 

At the end of her short breakfast she lit a cigarette, and began to paceup and down her sitting-room with a jerky, nervous gait, quite unlike herwonted graceful, easy, swinging walk. She had to relight her cigarette, and as she did so, Elizabeth Twitcher, who was clearing away thebreakfast, perceived that her hands were shaking. There was plainly morein the matter than Elizabeth Twitcher had supposed, and she wondered, growing more and more uneasy. 

When she went downstairs with the tray she learned that Dr. Thornhill wasexamining the wound which had caused the Lord Loudwater's death, and thatMr. Flexen and Inspector Perkins were questioning Wilkins. Talking to theother servants, she found of a sudden that she had reason for anxietyherself, and hurried back in a panic to her mistress's boudoir. She foundOlivia still walking nervously up and down. 

"The inspector and the gentleman who is acting Chief Constable arequestioning the servants, m'lady, " said Elizabeth. 

Olivia stopped short and stared at her with rather scared eyes. 

Then she said sharply: "Go down and learn what the servants have toldthem--all the servants--everything. "

Her mistress's plainly greater anxiety eased a little ElizabethTwitcher's own panic in the matter of James Hutchings, and she went downagain to the servants' quarters. 

Mr. Flexen and Inspector Perkins learnt nothing of importance fromWilkins; but he made it clearer to Mr. Flexen that the temper of themurdered man had indeed been abominable. Holloway, on the other hand, proved far more enlightening. From him they learnt that Hatchings hadbeen discharged the day before without notice, and that he had utteredviolent threats against his employer before he went. Also they learntthat Hatchings, who had left about four o'clock in the afternoon, hadcome back to the Castle at night. Jane Pittaway, an under-house-maid, hadheard him talking to Elizabeth Twitcher in the blue drawing-room betweeneleven and half-past. 

Mr. Flexen questioned Holloway at length, and learned that JamesHatchings was a man of uncommonly violent temper; that it had been amatter of debate in the servants' hall whether his furies or those oftheir dead master were the worse. Then he dismissed Holloway, and sentfor Jane Pittaway. A small, sharp-eyed, sharp-featured young woman, shewas quite clear in her story. About eleven the night before she had goneinto the great hall to bring away two vases full of flowers, to beemptied and washed next morning, and coming past the door of the bluedrawing-room, had heard voices. She had listened and recognized thevoices of Hutchings and Elizabeth Twitcher. No; she had not heard whatthey were saying. The door was too thick. But he seemed to be arguingwith her. Yes; she had been surprised to find him in the house after hehad gone off like that. Besides, everybody thought that he had jiltedElizabeth Twitcher and was keeping company with Mabel Evans, who had comehome on a holiday from her place in London to her mother's in thevillage. No; she did not know how long he stayed. She minded her ownbusiness, but, if any one asked her, she must say that he was more likelyto murder some one than any one she knew, for he had a worse temper thanhis lordship even, and bullied every one he came near worse than hislordship. In fact, she had never been able to understand how ElizabethTwitcher could stand him, though of course every one knew that Elizabethcould always give as good as she got. 

When Mr. Flexen thanked her and said that she might go, she displayed adesire to remain and give them her further views on the matter. ButInspector Perkins shooed her out of the room. 

Then Wilkins came to say that Dr. Thornhill had finished his examinationand would like to see them. 

He came in with a somewhat dissatisfied air, sat down heavily in thechair the inspector pushed forward for him, and said in adissatisfied tone:

"The blade pierced the left ventricle, about the middle, a good inch anda half. Death was practically instantaneous, of course. "

"I took it that it must have been. The collapse had been so complete. Isuppose the blade stopped the heart dead, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Absolutely dead, " said the doctor. "But the thing is that I can't swearto it that the wound was not self-inflicted. Knowing Lord Loudwater, Icould swear to it morally. There isn't the ghost of a chance that hetook his own life. But physically, his right hand might have driven thatblade into his heart. "

"I thought so myself, though of course I'm no expert, " said Mr. Flexen. "And I agree with you when you say that you are morally certain that thewound was not self-inflicted. Those bad-tempered brutes may murder otherpeople, but themselves never. "

"Well, I've not your experience in crime, but I should say that you wereright, " said the doctor. 

"All the same, the fact that you cannot swear that the wound was notself-inflicted will be of great help to the murderer, unless we get anabsolute case against him, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Well, I'm sure I hope you will. Lord Loudwater had a bad temper--aninfernal temper, in fact. But that's no excuse for murdering him, " saidDr. Thornhill. 

"None whatever, " said Mr. Flexen. "What about the inquest? I suppose we'dbetter have it as soon as possible. "

"Yes. Tomorrow morning, if you can, " said the doctor, rising. 

"Very good. Send word to the coroner at once, Perkins. Don't go yourself. I shall want you here, " said Mr. Flexen. 

He shook hands with the doctor and bade him good-day. As InspectorPerkins went out of the room to send word to the coroner, he bade himsend Elizabeth Twitcher to him. 

She was not long coming, for, in obedience to Olivia's injunction, shewas engaged in learning what the other servants knew, or thought theyknew, about the murder. 

When she came into the dining-room, Mr. Flexen's keen eyes examined herwith greater care than he had given to the other servants. On JanePittaway's showing, she should prove an important witness. Now ElizabethTwitcher was an uncommonly pretty girl, dark-eyed and dark-haired, andher forehead and chin and the way her eyes were set in her head showedconsiderable character. Mr. Flexen made up his mind on the instant thathe was going to learn from Elizabeth Twitcher exactly what ElizabethTwitcher thought fit to tell him and no more, for all that he perceivedthat she was badly scared. 

He did not beat about the bush; he said: "You had a conversation withJames Hutchings last night, about eleven o'clock, in the bluedrawing-room. Did you let him in?"

Elizabeth Twitcher's cheeks lost some more of their colour while he wasspeaking, and her eyes grew more scared. She hesitated for a moment;then she said:

"Yes. I let him in at the side door. "

He had not missed her hesitation; he was sure that she was not tellingthe truth. 

"How did you know he was at the side door?" he said. 

She hesitated again. Then she said: "He whistled to me under my windowjust as I was going to bed. "

Again he did not believe her. 

"Did you let him out of the Castle?" he said. 

"No, I didn't. He let himself out, " she said quickly. 

"Out of the side door?"

"How else would he go out?" she snapped. 

"You don't know that he went out by the side door?" said Mr. Flexen. 

Elizabeth hesitated again. Then she said sullenly: "No, I don't. I lefthim in the blue drawing-room. "

"In a very bad temper?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"I don't know what kind of a temper he was in, " she said. 

Mr. Flexen paused, looking at her thoughtfully. Then he said: "I'm toldthat you and he were engaged to be married, and that he broke theengagement off. "

"_I_ broke it off!" said Elizabeth angrily, and she drew herself up verystiff and frowning. 

It was Mr. Flexen's turn to hesitate. Then he made a shot, and said: "Isee. He wanted you to become engaged to him again, and you wouldn't. "

Elizabeth looked at him with an air of surprise and respect, and said:"It wasn't quite like that, sir. I didn't say as I wouldn't be his fioncyagain. I said I'd see how he behaved himself. "

"Then he wasn't in a good temper, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"He was in a better temper than he'd any right to expect to be, " saidElizabeth with some heat. 

"That's true, " said Mr. Flexen, smiling at her. "But after the trouble hehad had with Lord Loudwater he couldn't be in a very good temper. "

"He was too used to his lordship's tantrums to take much notice of them. He was too much that way himself, " said Elizabeth quickly. 

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen. "What time was it when he left you?"

"I can't rightly say. But it wasn't half-past eleven, " she said. 

He perceived that that was true. At the moment there was no more to belearned from her. If she could throw any more light on the doings ofJames Hutchings, she was on her guard and would not. But he had learnedthat James Hutchings had not entered the Castle by the side door. Had heentered it and left it by the library window?

He asked Elizabeth a few more unimportant questions and dismissed her. 

Inspector Perkins, having sent a groom to inform the coroner of themurder, and of the need for an early inquest into it, came back to him. They discussed the matter of James Hutchings, and decided to have himwatched and arrest him on suspicion should he try to leave theneighbourhood. The inspector telephoned to Low Wycombe for two of hisdetectives. 

Mr. Flexen questioned the rest of the servants and learned nothing newfrom them. By the time he had finished the two detectives from LowWycombe arrived, and he sent them out to make inquiries in the village, though he thought it unlikely that anything was to be learnt there, unless Hutchings had been talking again. 

He had risen and was about to go to the smoking-room to look round itagain, on the chance that something had escaped his eye, when Mrs. Carruthers, the housekeeper, entered the room. None of the servants hadmentioned her to him, and it had not occurred to him that there would ofcourse be a housekeeper. 

"Good morning, Mr. Flexen. I'm Mrs. Carruthers, the housekeeper, " shesaid. "You didn't send for me. But I thought I ought to see you, forI know something which may be important, and I thought you ought toknow it, too. "

"Of course. I can't know too much about an affair like this, " said Mr. Flexen quickly. 

"Well, there was a woman, or rather I should say a lady, with hislordship in the smoking-room last night--about eleven o'clock. "

"Indeed?" said Mr. Flexen. "Won't you sit down? A lady you say?"

"Yes; she was a lady, though she seemed very angry and excited, and wastalking in a very high voice. I didn't recognize it, so I can't tell youwho it was. You see, I don't belong to the neighbourhood. I've only beenhere six weeks. "

"And how long did this interview last?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"I can't tell you. It was no business of mine. I was making my round lastthing to see that the servants had left nothing about. I always do. Youknow how careless they are. I went round the hall, and then I went tobed. But, of course, I wondered about it, " said Mrs. Carruthers. 

Mr. Flexen looked at her refined, rather delicate face, and he did notwonder how she had repressed her natural curiosity. 

"Can you tell me whether the French window in the library, the end one, was open at that time?" he said. 

"I can't, " she said in a tone of regret. "I couldn't very well open thelibrary door. If the door between the library and the smoking-room wasopen, I should have been certain to hear something that was not meantfor my ears. And it generally is open in summer time. But I should thinkit very likely that the lady came in by that window. It's always open insummer time. In fact, his lordship always went out into the gardenthrough it, going from his smoking-room. "

"And what time was it that you heard this?" he said. 

"A few minutes past eleven. I looked round the drawing-room and the twodining-rooms, and it was a quarter-past eleven when I came into my room. "

"That's the first exact time I've got from any one yet, " said Mr. Flexenin a tone of satisfaction. "And that's all you heard?"

She hesitated, and a look of distress came over her face. Then she said:"You have questioned Elizabeth Twitcher. Did she tell you anything abouthis lordship's last quarrel with her ladyship?"

"She did not, " said Mr. Flexen. "Mr. Manley told me that she had toldhim about the quarrel. But I did not question her about it. I left ittill later. "

Mrs. Carruthers hesitated; then she said: "It's so difficult to see whatone's duty is in a case like this. "

"Well, one's obvious duty is to make no secret of anything that may throwa light on the crime. Was it anything out of the way in the way ofquarrels? Wasn't Lord Loudwater always quarrelling with Lady Loudwater?I've been told that he was always insulting and bullying her. "

"Well, this one was rather out of the common, " said Mrs. Carruthersreluctantly. "He accused her of having kissed Colonel Grey in the Eastwood and declared that he would divorce her. "

"It was Colonel Grey, was it?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"That is what Elizabeth Twitcher told me after supper last night. Itseems that his lordship burst in upon them when she was dressing herladyship's hair for dinner and blurted it out before her. I've no doubtshe was telling the truth. Twitcher is a truthful girl. "

"Moderately truthful, " said Mr. Flexen in a somewhat ironical tone. 

"Of course she may have exaggerated. Servants do, " said Mrs. Carruthers. 

"And how did Lady Loudwater take it?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Twitcher said that she denied everything, and did not appear at allupset about it. Of course, she was used to Lord Loudwater's makingscenes. He had a most dreadful temper. "

"M'm, " said Mr. Flexen, and he played a tune on the table with hisfinger-tips, frowning thoughtfully. "Was Colonel Grey--I suppose it isColonel Antony Grey--the V. C. Who has been staying down here?"

"Yes, " said Mrs. Carruthers. "He's at the 'Cart and Horses' atBellingham. "

"Was he on good terms with Lord Loudwater?"

"They were quite friendly up to about a fortnight ago. The Colonel usedto play billiards with his lordship and stay on to dinner two or threetimes a week. Then they had a quarrel--about the way his lordshiptreated her ladyship. Holloway, the footman, heard it, and the Coloneltold his lordship that he was a cad and a blackguard, and he hasn't beenhere since. "

"But he met Lady Loudwater in the wood?"

"So his lordship declared, " said Mrs. Carruthers in a non-committal tone. 

"Do you know how Lord Loudwater came to hear of their meeting?"

"Twitcher said that he must have had it from one of theunder-gamekeepers, a young fellow called William Roper. Roper asked tosee his lordship that evening and was very mysterious about his errand, so that it looks as if she might be right. None of the servants ever wentnear his lordship, if they could help it. It had to be something veryimportant to induce William Roper to go to him of his own accord. "

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen thoughtfully. "Well, I'm glad you told me aboutthis. Do you suppose that this Twitcher girl has talked to any one butyou about it?"

"That I can't say at all. But she has a bedroom to herself, " said Mrs. Carruthers. "Besides, if she had talked to any of the others, they wouldhave told you about it. "

"Yes; there is that. I think it would be a good thing if you were togive her a hint to keep it to herself. It may have no bearing whateveron the crime. It's not probable that it has. But it's the kind ofthing to set people talking and do both Lady Loudwater and ColonelGrey a lot of harm. "

"I will give her a hint at once, " said Mrs. Carruthers, rising. "But theunfortunate thing is that if Twitcher doesn't talk, this young fellowRoper will. And, really, Lord Loudwater gave her ladyship quite enoughtrouble and unhappiness when he was alive without giving her more nowthat he's dead. "

"I may be able to induce William Roper to hold his tongue, " said Mr. Flexen dryly. "Certainly his talking cannot do any good in any case. AndI have gathered that Lady Loudwater has suffered quite enough alreadyfrom her husband. "

"I'm sure she has; and I do hope you will be able to keep that young manquiet, " said Mrs. Carruthers, moving towards the door. As she opened it, she paused and said: "Will you be here to lunch, Mr. Flexen?"

"To lunch and probably all the afternoon. " He hesitated and added: "Itwould be rather an advantage if I could sleep here, too. I do not thinkthat I shall need to look much further than the Castle for the solutionof this problem, though there's no telling. At any rate, I should like tohave exhausted all the possibilities of the Castle before I leave it. Andif I'm on the spot, I shall probably exhaust them much more quickly. "

"Oh, that can easily be arranged. I'll see her ladyship about it atonce, " said Mrs. Carruthers quickly. 

"And would you ask her if she feels equal to seeing me yet?"

"Certainly, Mr. Flexen; and if she does, I'll let you know at once, " shesaid and went through the door. 

Mr. Flexen was considering the new facts she had given him, when aboutthree minutes later Inspector Perkins returned; and Mr. Flexen bade himfind William Roper and bring him to him without delay. The inspectordeparted briskly. He was not used to having the inquiry into a crimeconducted by the Chief Constable himself; but Mr. Flexen had impressedthe conviction on him that it was work which he thoroughly understood. Moreover, he had been appointed acting Chief Constable of the districtduring the absence of Major Arbuthnot, on the ground of his many years'experience in the Indian Police. Also, the inspector realized that thiswas, indeed, an exceptional case worthy of the personal effort of anyChief Constable. He could not remember a case of the murder of a peer;they had always seemed to him a class immune from anything more seriousthan ordinary assault. He was pleased that Mr. Flexen was conducting theinquiry himself, for he did not wish Scotland Yard to deal with it. Notonly would that cast a slur on the capacity of the police of thedistrict, but he was sure that he himself would get much more credit forhis work, if he and Mr. Flexen were successful in discovering themurderer, than he would get if a detective inspector from Scotland Yardwere in charge of the case. Such a detective inspector might or might notearn all the credit, but he would certainly know how to get it andprobably insist on having it. 

He had not been gone a minute when Elizabeth Twitcher came into thedining-room, said that her ladyship would be pleased to see Mr. Flexen, and led him upstairs to her sitting-room. 

He found Olivia paler than her wont, but quite composed. She had lost hernervous air, for she had perceived very clearly that it would bedangerous, indeed, to display the anxiety which was harassing her. It wasonly natural that she should appear upset by the shock, but not that sheshould appear in any way fearful. 

Mr. Flexen had been told that Lady Loudwater was pretty, but he had notbeen prepared to find her as charming a creature as Olivia. He made uphis mind at once to do the best he could to save her from the troublethat the gossip about her and Colonel Grey would surely bring uponher--if always he were satisfied that neither of them had a hand in thecrime. Looking at Olivia, nothing seemed more unlikely than that sheshould be in any way connected with it. But he preserved an open mind. Assuch reasons go, she was not without reasons, substantial reasons, forgetting rid of her husband, and she appeared to him to be a creature ofsufficiently delicate sensibilities to feel that husband's brutality morethan most women. At the same time he found it hard to conceive of herusing that fatal knife herself. Yet the knife is most frequently thewomanly weapon. 

For her part, Olivia liked his face; but she had an uneasy feeling thathe would go further than most men in solving any problem with which heset his mind to grapple. 

They greeted one another; he sat down in a chair facing the light, thoughhe would have preferred that Olivia should have faced it, and expressedhis concern at the trouble which had befallen her. 

Then he said: "I came to see you, Lady Loudwater, in the hope that youmight be able to throw some light on this deplorable event. "

"I don't think I can, " said Olivia gently. "But of course, if I can doanything to help you find out about it I shall be very pleased to try. "

She looked at him with steady, candid eyes that deepened his feelingthat she had had no hand in the crime. 

"And, of course, I'll make it as little distressing for you as I can, "he said. "Do you know whether your husband had anything worryinghim--any serious trouble of any kind which would make him likely tocommit suicide?"

"Suicide? Egbert?" cried Olivia, in a tone of such astonishment that, asfar as Mr. Flexen was concerned, the hypothesis of suicide received itsdeath-blow. "No. I don't know of anything which would have made himcommit suicide. "

"Of course he had no money troubles; but were there any domestic troubleswhich might have unhinged his mind to that extent?" said Mr. Flexen. 

He wished to be able to deal with the hypothesis of suicide, should it beput forward. 

Olivia did not answer immediately. She was thinking hard. The possibilitythat her husband had committed suicide, or that any one could supposethat he had committed suicide, had never entered her head. She perceived, however, that it was a supposition worth encouraging. At the same time, she must not seem eager to encourage it. 

"But they told me that he'd been murdered, " she said. 

"We cannot exclude any possibility from a matter like this, and thepossibility of suicide must be taken into account, " said Mr. Flexenquickly. "You don't know of any domestic trouble which might have inducedLord Loudwater to make an end of himself?"

"No, I don't know of one, " said Olivia firmly. "But, of course, he wassometimes quite mad. "

"Mad?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Yes, quite. I told him so last night--just before dinner. He was quitemad. He said that I had kissed a friend of ours--at least he was a friendof both of us till he quarrelled with my husband some weeks ago--in theEast wood. He raged about it, and declared he was going to start adivorce action. But I didn't take much notice of it. He was alwaysfalling into dreadful rages. There was one at breakfast about my cat andanother at lunch about the wine. He fancied it was corked. "

Olivia had perceived clearly that since Elizabeth Twitcher had been awitness of her husband's outburst about Grey, it would be merely foolishnot to be frank about it. 

"But the last matter was very much more serious than the matter of thecat or the wine, " said Mr. Flexen. "You don't think that your husbandbrooded on it for the rest of the evening and worked himself up into adangerous frame of mind?"

Olivia hesitated. She was quite sure that her husband had done nothing ofthe kind, for if he had worked himself up into a dangerous frame of mindhe would assuredly have made some effort to get at her and give someviolent expression to it. But she said:

"That I can't say. I wish I'd gone down to dinner--now. But I was toomuch annoyed. I dined in my boudoir. I'd had quite enough unpleasantnessfor one day. Perhaps one of the servants could tell you. They may havenoticed something unusual in him--perhaps that he was brooding. "

"Wilkins did say that Lord Loudwater seemed upset at dinner, and that hewas frowning most of the meal, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"That wasn't unusual, " said Olivia somewhat pathetically. "Besides--"

She stopped short, on the very verge of saying that she was sure thatthose frowns cleared from her husband's face before the sweets, for hewould never take afternoon tea, in order to have a better appetite fordinner, and consequently was wont to begin that meal in a tetchy humour. Such an explanation would have gone no way to support the hypothesis ofsuicide. Instead of making it she said:

"Of course, he did seem frightfully upset. "

"But you don't think that he was sufficiently upset to do himself aninjury?" said Mr. Flexen. 

Olivia had formed a strong impression that her husband would not in anycircumstance do himself an injury; it was his part to injure others. But she said:

"I can't say. He might have gone on working himself up all the evening. Ididn't see him after he left my dressing-room. It was there he made therow--while I was dressing for dinner. "

Mr. Flexen paused; then he said: "Mr. Manley tells me that Lord Loudwaterused to sleep every evening after dinner. Do you think that he was tooupset to go to sleep last night?"

"Oh, dear no! I've known him go to sleep in his smoking-room after a muchworse row than that!" cried Olivia. 

"With you?" said Mr. Flexen quickly. 

"No; with Hutchings--the butler, " said Olivia. 

"But that wouldn't be such a serious matter--not one to brood upon, " saidMr. Flexen. 

"I suppose not, " said Olivia readily. 

Mr. Flexen paused again; then he said in a somewhat reluctant tone:"There's another matter I must go into. Have you any reason to believethat there was any other woman in Lord Loudwater's life--anything in thenature of an intrigue? It's not a pleasant question to have to ask, butit's really important. "

"Oh, I don't expect any pleasantness where Lord Loudwater is concerned, "said Olivia, with a sudden almost petulant impatience, for thisinquisition was a much more severe strain on her than Mr. Flexenperceived. "Do you mean now, or before we were married?"

"Now, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"I haven't the slightest idea, " said Olivia. 

"Do you think it likely?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"No, I don't--not very. I don't see how he could have got another womanin. He was always about--always. Of course, he rode a good deal, though. "

"He did, did he?" said Mr. Flexen quickly. 

"Every afternoon and most mornings. "

That was important. Mr. Flexen thought that he might not have to go veryfar afield to find the woman who had been quarrelling with Lord Loudwaterat a few minutes past eleven the night before. She probably lived withinan easy ride of the Castle. 

"I'm very much obliged to you for helping me so readily in suchdistressing circumstances, " he said in a grateful voice as he rose. "Ifanything further occurs to you that may throw any light on the matter, you might let me hear it with as little delay as possible. "

"I will, " said Olivia. "By the way, Mrs. Carruthers told me that youwould like to stay here while you were making your inquiry; please do;and please make any use of the servants and the cars you like. Myhusband's heir is still in Mesopotamia, and I expect that I shall haveto run the Castle till he comes back. "

"Thank you. To stay here will be very convenient and useful, " said Mr. Flexen gratefully, and left her. 

He came down the stairs thoughtfully. It seemed to him quite unlikelythat she had had anything to do with the crime, or knew anything moreabout it than she had told him. Nevertheless, there was this business ofColonel Grey and her murdered husband's threat to divorce her. They mustbe borne in mind. 

He would have been surprised, intrigued, and somewhat shaken in hisconviction that she had been in no way connected with the murder, had heheard the gasp of intense relief which burst from Olivia's lips when thedoor closed behind him, and seen her huddle up in her chair and begin tocry weakly in the reaction from the strain of his inquisition. 

CHAPTER VII

Mr. Flexen found Inspector Perkins waiting for him in the dining-roomwith the information that James Hutchings was at his father's cottage inthe West wood, and that he had set one of his detectives to watch him. Also, he told him that he had learned that Hutchings was generallydisliked in the village as well as at the Castle, as a violent, bad-tempered man, with a habit of fixing quarrels on any one who wouldquarrel with him, and as often as not on mild and inoffensive persons, quite incapable of bearing themselves in a quarrel with any unpleasanteffectiveness. 

Mr. Flexen discussed with the inspector the question of taking out awarrant for the arrest of Hutchings, and they decided that there was noneed to take the step--at any rate, at the moment; it was enough to havehim watched. He would learn doubtless that it was known that he had beenin the Castle late the night before. If, on learning it, he took frightand bolted, it would rather simplify the case. 

Then Mr. Flexen sent again for Elizabeth Twitcher and questioned her atlength about Lord Loudwater's onslaught on Lady Loudwater the nightbefore and about the condition in which he had been at the end of it. Elizabeth was somewhat sulky in her manner, for she felt that she was toblame for that onslaught having come to Mr. Flexen's ears. She was themore careful to make it plain that however violently Lord Loudwater mayhave been affected, Olivia had taken the business lightly enough, anddecided to ignore his injunction to her to leave the Castle. Mr. Flexendid not miss the point that Lord Loudwater had threatened to houndColonel Grey out of the Army; but at the moment he did not attachimportance to it. It was the kind of threat that an angry man would bepretty sure to make in the circumstances. 

Having dismissed Elizabeth Twitcher, he came to lunch with the impressionstrong on him that he had made as much progress as could be expected inone morning towards the solution of the problem. He was quite undecidedwhether Hutchings' presence in the Castle at so late an hour, and theprobability that he had entered and left it by the library window, or thematter of the woman who had had the stormy interview with the murderedman, was the more important. It must be his early task to discover whothat woman was. 

He found Mr. Manley awaiting him in the little dining-room, ready to playhost. Over their soup and fish they talked about ordinary topics and alittle about themselves. Mr. Manley learned that Mr. Flexen had been inthe Indian Police for over seven years, and had been forced to resign hispost by the breaking down of his health; that during the war he had twiceacted as Chief Constable and three times as stipendiary magistrate indifferent districts. Mr. Flexen gathered that Mr. Manley had fought inFrance with a brilliant intrepidity which had not met with the publicrecognition it deserved, and learned that he had been invalided out ofthe Army owing to the weakness of his heart. This common failure ofhealth was a bond of sympathy between them, and made them well disposedto one another. 

There came a pause in this personal talk, and either of them addressedhimself to the consumption of the wing of a chicken with a certainabsorption in the occupation. It was not uncharacteristic of Mr. Manleythat his high sense of the fitness of things had not prevailed on him toaccord the liver wing to the guest. He was firmly eating it himself. 

Then Mr. Flexen said: "I suppose you came across Hutchings, the butler, pretty often. What kind of a fellow was he?"

"He was rather more like his master than if he had been his twin brother, except that he wore whiskers and not a beard, " said Mr. Manley, in a toneof hearty dislike. 

"He does not appear to have been at all popular with the other servants, "said Mr. Flexen. 

"He certainly wasn't popular with me, " said Mr. Manley dryly. 

"What did Lord Loudwater discharge him for?"

"A matter of a commission on the purchase of some wine, " said Mr. Manley. Then in a more earnest tone he added: "Look here: the trenches knock agood deal of the nonsense out of one, and I tell you frankly that if Icould help you in any way to discover the criminal, I wouldn't. Myfeeling is that if ever any one wanted putting out of the way, LordLoudwater did; and as he was put out of the way quite painlessly, probably it was a valuble action, whatever its motive. "

"I expect that a good many people have come back from the trenches withvery different ideas about justice, " said Mr. Flexen in an indulgenttone. "The Indian Police also changes your ideas about it. But it's myduty to see that justice is done, and I shall. Besides, I'm very keen onsolving this problem, if I can. It seems that Hutchings was in the Castlelast night about eleven o'clock, and as you said something about comingdown for a drink about that time, I thought you might possibly knowsomething about his movements. "

"Well, as it happens, " said Mr. Manley and stopped short, paused, andwent on: "You seem to have made up your mind that it was a murder and nota suicide. "

"So you do know something about the movements of Hutchings, " said Mr. Flexen, smiling. "You'll be subpoenaed, you know, if he is charged withthe murder. "

"That would, of course, be quite a different matter, " said Mr. Manley gravely. 

"As to its being a murder, I've pretty well made up my mind that it was, "said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley looked at him gravely: "You have, have you?" he said. Then headded: "About that knife and the finger-prints on it, if it happens tohave recorded any: I've been thinking that you may find yourselfsuffering from an embarrassment of riches. I know that mine will be onit, and Lady Loudwater's, who used it to cut the leaves of a volume ofpoetry the day before yesterday, and Hutchings', who cut the string of aparcel of books with it yesterday, and very likely the fingerprints ofLord Loudwater. You know how it is with a knife like that, which liesopen and handy. Every one uses it. I've seen Lady Loudwater use it to cutflowers, and Lord Loudwater to cut the end off a cigar--cursing, ofcourse, because he couldn't lay his hands on a cigar-cutter, and theknife was blunt--and I've cut all kinds of things with it myself. "

"Yes; but the finger-prints of the murderer, if it does record them, willbe on the top of all those others. I shall simply take prints from all ofyou and eliminate them. "

"Of course; you can get at it that way, " said Mr. Manley. 

They were silent while Holloway set the cheese-straws on the table. 

When he had left the room Mr. Flexen said in a casual tone: "You don'thappen to know whether Lord Loudwater was mixed up with any woman in theneighbourhood?"

Mr. Manley paused, then laughed and said: "It's no use at all. When Itold you that I would throw no light on the matter, if I could help it, Ireally meant it. At the same time, I don't mind saying that, with hisreputation for brutality, I should think it very unlikely. "

"You can never tell about women. So many of them seem to prefer brutes. And, after all, a peer is a peer, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"There is that, " said Mr. Manley in thoughtful agreement. 

But he was frowning faintly as he cudgelled his brains in the effort tothink what had set Mr. Flexen on the track of Helena Truslove, for itmust be Helena. 

"I expect I shall be able to find out from his lawyers, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"This promises to be interesting--the intervention of Romance, " said Mr. Manley in a tone of livelier interest. "I took it that the murder, if itwas a murder, would be a sordid business, in keeping with LordLoudwater himself. But if you're going to introduce a lady into thecase, it promises to be more fruitful in interest for the dramatist. I'mwriting plays. "

But Mr. Flexen was not going to divulge the curious fact that about thetime of his murder Lord Loudwater had had a violent quarrel with a lady. He had no doubt that Mrs. Carruthers would keep it to herself. 

"Oh, one has to look out for every possible factor in a problem likethis, you know, " he said carelessly. 

The faint frown lingered on Mr. Manley's brow. Mr. Flexen supposed thatit was the result of his refraining from gratifying his appetite for thedramatic. They were silent a while. 

"When are you going to take our finger-prints?" said Mr. Manleypresently. 

"Not till I've learned whether there are any on the handle of the knife, "said Mr. Flexen. "Perkins has already sent it off to Scotland Yard. "

"I never thought of that. It would be rather a waste of time to take thembefore knowing that, " said Mr. Manley. 

Holloway brought the coffee; Mr. Manley gave Mr. Flexen an excellentcigar, and they talked about the war. Mr. Flexen drank his coffeequickly, said that he must get back to his work, and added that he hopedthat he would enjoy the company of Mr. Manley at dinner. Mr. Manley hadbeen going to dine with Helena Truslove; but after Mr. Flexen's questionwhether Lord Loudwater had been entangled with any woman in theneighbourhood, he thought that he had better dine with him. He mightlearn something useful, if he could induce Mr. Flexen to expand under therelaxing influence of dinner. He resolved to use his authority to havethe most engaging wine the cellar held. He was determined to make everyendeavour to keep Helena's name out of the affair, and he thought that hewould succeed. 

Mr. Flexen left him. He finished his coffee, the second cup, slowly, wondering about Mr. Flexen's question about Lord Loudwater and a woman. Then, since he had done all the work he could think of, in the way ofmaking arrangements for the funeral, during the morning, he set outbriskly to Helena's house, hoping that she would be able to throw somelight on it. 

He greeted her with his usual warmth, and then, when he came to look ather at his leisure, it was plain to him that the murder had been a muchgreater shock to her than he had expected. He was surprised at it, forshe had assured him that she had never been really in love with LordLoudwater, and he had believed her. But there was no doubt that she hadbeen greatly upset by the news of his death. Her high colouring wasdimmed; she wore a harassed air, and she was uncommonly nervous and illat ease. He thought it strange that she should be so deeply affected bythe death of a man she had such good reason to detest. But, of course, there was no telling how a woman would take anything; Lady Loudwater'sdistress had fallen as far short of what he had expected as Helena's hadexceeded it. 

To Mr. Manley's credit it must be admitted that in less than twentyminutes Helena Truslove was looking another creature; her face hadrecovered all its colour; the harassed air had vanished from it, and shewas sitting on his knee in a condition of the most pleasant repose. Itwas his theory that a woman was never too ill, or too ill at ease, or toounhappy to be made love to. He had acted on it. 

When he had thus restored her peace of mind, he told her that Mr. Flexenhad asked him whether the late Lord Loudwater had been mixed up with anylady in the neighbourhood, and asked her if she could suggest any reasonfor his having asked the question. She appeared greatly startled to hearof it. But she could not suggest any reason for his having asked thequestion. He then asked her about the manner in which the allowance hadbeen paid to her, and was pleased to learn that there was littlelikelihood of Mr. Flexen's learning that she had received such anallowance from Lord Loudwater, for it had been paid her through a younglawyer of the name of Shepherd, at Low Wycombe, the lawyer who had dealtwith the matter of the transference of the house they were in to her, from the rents of some houses Lord Loudwater owned in that town, and thatlawyer was somewhere in Mesopotamia, his practice in abeyance. 

She was in entire accord with Mr. Manley about the advantage of her namenot being connected in any way with the tragedy at the Castle. Shepointed out that it was also an advantage that she had just, been paidher allowance for the present quarter, and there would not be anotherpayment for three months. By that time it was probable that the murderwould have passed out of people's minds and Mr. Flexen be busy with otherwork. It seemed to Mr. Manley that Mr. Flexen would not easily learnabout the allowance unless Mr. Carrington also knew it, which seemedunlikely, though it was always possible that there was some record of itamong the Lord Loudwater's papers at the Castle. Soon after seven he lefther to walk back to dine with Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Flexen had had a considerable surprise that afternoon. He had toldRobert Black to find William Roper and bring him to him. He wished tohear the story he had told Lord Loudwater the evening before, for itmight be of a triviality to make the hypothesis that Lord Loudwater hadcommitted suicide yet less worthy of serious consideration. Black was along while finding William Roper, for he was at work in the woods. Indeed, he had not yet heard that Lord Loudwater had been murdered, forhe had been up most of the night, risen late, got his own breakfast inhis out-of-the-way cottage in the depths of the West wood, and gone outon his rounds. The constable found him at the cottage, in the act ofpreparing his dinner, or rather his tea and dinner, at a quarter to four. 

William Roper was startled, indeed, to hear of the murder, and thenbitterly annoyed. All the while on his rounds he had been congratulatinghimself on his coming promotion, and reckoning up the many advantageswhich would accrue from it, not the least of which was a wider prospectof finding a wife. The cup was dashed from his lips. He had acquired nomerit in the eyes of the new Lord Loudwater, and he had most probablymade the present Lady Loudwater his enemy, if the murdered man haddivulged the source of his knowledge of her goings-on with Colonel Grey. He ate his mixed meal very sulkily, listening to the constable's accountof the circumstances of the crime. Slowly, however, his face grewbrighter as he listened; the new information he had obtained for hismurdered employer might very well have an important bearing on the crimeitself. He might yet establish himself as the benefactor of the family. 

On the way to the Castle he was so mysterious with Robert Black that thestout constable became a prey to mingled curiosity and doubt. He couldnot make up his mind whether William Roper really knew something ofimportance or was merely vapouring. William Roper neither gratified hiscuriosity, nor banished his doubt. He was alive to the advantage ofreserving his information for the most important ear, so as to gain thegreatest possible credit for it. 

At the first sight of him Mr. Flexen felt that he had before him animportant witness, for he took a violent dislike to him, and he hadobserved, in the course of his many years' experience in the detection ofcrime, that the most important witness in hounding down a criminal wasvery often of a repulsive type, the nark type. William Roper was of thattype, but his story was indeed startling. 

He first told how he had seen Colonel Grey kiss Lady Loudwater in theafternoon--Mr. Flexen noted that Lord Loudwater had accused her ofkissing Grey--and of their spending most of the afternoon in the pavilionin the East wood. The time of his watching had already lengthened inWilliam Roper's memory. There was nothing new in these facts, and Mr. Flexen saw no reason to suppose that they had any bearing on the crime. But William Roper went on to say that soon after ten in the evening hehad been on his round in the East wood, when he saw Colonel Grey walkingin the direction of the Castle. His curiosity had been aroused by what hehad seen in the afternoon, and thinking it not unlikely that he was onhis way to another meeting with the Lady Loudwater, and that it was theduty of a faithful retainer to make sure about it, with a view toinforming his master should his surmise prove correct, he followed him. 

The Colonel went straight through the wood into the Castle garden, walkedround the Castle, keeping in its shadow as he went, till he stood underthe window of Lady Loudwater's suite of rooms. 

There he appeared to suffer a check. There was a light in the room on theground floor under her boudoir. The Colonel had waited quite a while;then he had walked round the Castle and into it by the library window. 

William, greatly surprised by the Colonel's audacity, had taken up hisposition in a clump of tall rhododendrons, opposite the library window, from which he could keep watch on it. 

"What time would this be?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes past ten, sir, " saidWilliam Roper. 

"And what happened then?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Nothing 'appened for a good ten minutes. Then James Hutchings, thebutler, come across the gardens from the south gate, as if 'e'd come fromthe village, and 'e went in through the libery winder--the same winder. "

Mr. Flexen had thought it not unlikely that Hatchings had entered theCastle by that entrance. He was pleased to have his guess corroborated. 

"That would be about half-past ten, " he said. "Could you see into thelibrary at all?"

"Only a very little way, sir. "

"You couldn't see whether Colonel Grey and then James Hutchings wentstraight through it into the hall, or whether either of them went intothe smoking-room?"

"No; I couldn't see so far in as that, though there was a light burningin the libery, " said William Roper. 

That was a new fact. Any one passing through the library would be able tosee the open knife lying in the big inkstand. 

"Go on, " said Mr. Flexen. "What happened next?"

"Nothing 'appened for a long while--twenty minutes, I should think--andthen there come a woman round the right-'and corner of the Castle walland along it and into the libery winder. At first I thought it was Mrs. Carruthers, or one of the maids--she were too tall for her ladyship--butit warn't. "

"Are you quite sure?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Quite, sir. I should have known 'er if she had been. Besides, she wasall muffled up like. You couldn't see 'er face. "

"Did she hesitate before going through the library window?" saidMr. Flexen. 

"Not as I noticed. She seemed to go straight in. "

"As if she were used to going into the Castle that way?" said Mr. Flexen. 

William Roper scratched his head. Then he said cautiously: "She seemed toknow that way in all right, sir. "

"And how was she dressed?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"She wasn't in black. It wasn't as dull as black, but it was dullish. Itmight have been grey and again it might not. It might have been blue orbrown. You see, there was a fair moon, sir, but it was be'ind the Castle, an' I never seed 'er in the full moonlight, as you may say, seeing as, coming and going, she come along the wall and went round the right 'andcorner of it, in the shadder. "

"And which of these three people came away first?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"She did. She wasn't in the Castle more nor twenty minutes--if that. "

"Did she seem to be in a hurry when she came out? Did she run, orwalk quickly?"

"No. I can't say as she did. She went away just about as she came--in nopurtic'ler 'urry, " said William Roper. 

Mr. Flexen paused, considering; then he said: "And who was the nextto leave?"

"The Colonel, 'e come out next--in about ten minutes. "

"Did he seem in a hurry?"

"'E walked pretty brisk, and 'e was frowning, like as if 'e was in arage. 'E passed me close, so I 'ad a good look at 'im. Yes; I should say'e was fair boilen', 'e was, " said William Roper, in a solemn, pleasedtone of one giving damning evidence. 

Mr. Flexen did not press the matter. He said: "So James Hutchings cameaway last?"

"Yes; about five minutes after the Colonel. And 'e was in a pretty fairto-do, too. Leastways, he was frowning and a-muttering of to 'imself. Hepassed me close. "

"Did _he_ seem in any hurry?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"'E was walkin' fairly fast, " said William Roper. 

Mr. Flexen paused again, pondering. He thought that William Roper hadthrown all the light on the matter he could; and he had certainlyrevealed a number of facts which looked uncommonly important. 

"And that was all you saw?" he said. 

"That was all--except 'er ladyship, " said William Roper. 

"Her ladyship?" said Mr. Flexen sharply. 

"Yes. You see, there was no 'urry for me to go back to the woods, sir;an' I sat down on one of them garden seats along the edge of theWellin'tonia shrubbery to smoke a pipe and think it ou'. I felt it was mydooty like to let 'is lordship know about these goings-on, never thinkingas 'ow 'e was sitting there all the time with a knife in 'im. I shouldthink it was twenty minutes arter that I saw 'er ladyship come out. Ofcourse, I was farther away from the window, but I saw 'er quite plain. "

"And where did she go?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"She didn't go nowhere, so to speak. She just walked up an' down thegravel path--like as if she'd come out for a breath of fresh air. Then she went in. She wasn't out more nor ten minutes, or a quarterof an hour. "

Mr. Flexen was silent in frowning thought; then he looked earnestly atWilliam Roper for a good minute; then he said: "Well, this may beimportant, or it may not. But it is very important that you should keepit to yourself. " He looked hard again at William, decided that an appealto his vanity would be best, and added: "You're pretty shrewd, I fancy, and you can see that it is most important not to put the criminal on hisguard--if it was a crime. "

"I suppose I shall 'ave to tell what I know at the inquest?" said WilliamRoper, with an air of importance. 

Mr. Flexen gazed at him thoughtfully, weighing the matter. Here were anumber of facts which might or might not have an important bearing on themurder, but which would give rise to a great deal of painful and harmfulscandal if they were given to the world at this juncture. 

Besides the publication of them might force his hand, and he preferred tohave a free hand in this matter as he had been used to have a free handin India. There he had dealt with more than one case in such a manner asto secure substantial justice rather than the exact execution of the law. It might be that in this case justice would be best secured by leavingthe murderer to his, or her, conscience rather than by causing severalpeople great unhappiness by bringing about a conviction. He was inclinedto think, with Mr. Manley, that the murderer might have performed apublic service by removing Lord Loudwater from the world he had so illadorned. At any rate, he was resolved to have a free hand to deal withthe case, and most certainly he was not going to allow this noxious youngfellow to hamper his freedom of action and final decision. 

"Your evidence seems to me of much too great importance to be given atthe inquest. It must be reserved for the trial, " he said in an impressivetone. "But if it gets abroad that you have seen what you have told me, the criminal will be prepared to upset your evidence; and it willprobably become quite worthless. You must not breathe a word about whatyou saw to a soul till we have your evidence supported beyond allpossibility of its being refuted. Do you understand?"

For a moment William Roper looked disappointed. He had looked to becomefamous that very day. But he realized his great importance in the affair, and his face cleared. 

"I understands, sir, " he said with a dark solemnity. 

"Not a word, " said Mr. Flexen yet more impressively. 

CHAPTER VIII

That morning Olivia went to meet Grey in a mood very different from thatof the afternoon before. Then she had moved on light feet, in highspirits, expectant, even excited. She had not known what was coming, butthe prospect had been full of possibilities; and, thanks to the suddenappearance of the cat Melchisidec at the crucial moment, she had not beendisappointed. Today she would have gone to meet the man who loved her inyet higher spirits, for there is no blinking the fact that she was whollyunable to grieve for her husband. He had with such thoroughnessextirpated the girlish fondness she had felt for him when she marriedhim, that she could not without hypocrisy make even a show of grievingfor him. His death had merely removed the barrier between her and the manshe loved. 

But today she did not go to her tryst in spirits higher for the removalof that barrier. She went more slowly, on heavier, lingering feet. Hereyes were downcast, and her forehead was furrowed by an anxious, brooding frown. 

The sight of Colonel Grey, waiting for her at the door of the Pavilion, smoothed the furrows from her forehead and quickened her steps. When thedoor closed behind them he caught her in his arms and kissed her. It wasearly in her widowhood to be kissed, but she made no protest. She did notfeel a widow; she felt a free woman again. It is even to be feared thather lips were responsive. 

Antony, too, was changed. He was paler and almost careworn. There was nodoubt of his joy at her coming, no doubt that it was greater than the daybefore. But it was qualified by some other troubling emotion. Now andagain he looked at her with different eyes--eyes from which the joy hadof a sudden faded, rather fearful eyes that looked a question which couldnot be asked. Her eyes rather shrank from his, and when they did lookinto them it was with a like question. 

But they were too deeply in love with one another for any other emotionto hold them for long at a time. Presently in the joy of being together, looking at one another, touching one another, the fearfulness and thequestion passed from their eyes. 

There was nothing rustic about the Pavilion inside or out. It was ofwhite marble, brought from Carrara for the fifth Baron Loudwater at theend of the eighteenth century; and a whim of her murdered husband had ledhim to replace the original, delicate, rather severe furniture by a mostcomfortable broad couch, two no less comfortable chairs with arms, asmall red lacquer table and a dozen cushions. He had hung on each wall adrawing of dancing-girls by Degas. Since the coverings of the couch andthe cushions were of Chinese silken embroideries, the interior appeared asomewhat bizarre mixture of the Oriental and the French. 

Antony had been in some doubt that Olivia would come. But he had thoughtit natural that she should come to him in such an hour of distress, forhe knew the simple directness of her nature. Therefore he had taken nochance. He had gone to High Wycombe, ransacked its simple provisionshops, and brought away a lunch basket. 

She was for returning to the Castle to lunch. But he persuaded her tostay. She needed no great pressing; she had a feeling that every hour wasprecious, that it was unsafe to lose a single one of them: a forebodingthat she and Antony might not be together long. It almost seemed that alike foreboding weighed on him. At times they seemed almost feverish intheir desire to wring the last drop of sweetness out of the swiftlyflying hour. 

After lunch again the thought came to her that she ought to go back tothe Castle, that she might be needed, and missed; but it found noexpression. She could not tear herself away. She had been denied joy toolong, and it was intoxicating. 

It was five o'clock before she left the Pavilion. She walked briskly, with her wonted, easy, swinging gait, back to the Castle, in a dream, heranxiety and fear for the while forgotten. On her way up to her suite ofrooms she met no one. She was quick to take off her hat and ring for hertea. Elizabeth Twitcher brought it to her, and from her Olivia learnedthat only Mr. Manley had asked for her. She realized that, after all, thanks to her dead husband, she was but an inconspicuous person in theCastle. No one had been used to consult her in any matter. She was gladof it. At the moment all she desired was freedom of action, freedom to bewith Antony; and the fact that the life of the Castle moved smoothlyalong in the capable hands of Mrs. Carruthers and Mr. Manley gave herthat freedom. 

After her tea she went out into the rose-garden and was strolling up anddown it when Mr. Flexen, pondering the information which he had obtainedfrom William Roper, saw her and came out to her. He thought that sheshrank a little at the sight of him, but assured himself that it must befancy; surely there could be no reason why she should shrink from him. 

"I'm told, Lady Loudwater, that you went out through the library windowinto the garden for a stroll about a quarter to twelve last night. Didyou by any chance, as you went in or came out, hear Lord Loudwater snore?I want to fix the latest hour at which he was certainly alive. You seehow important it may prove. "

She hesitated, wrinkling her brow as she weighed the importance of heranswer. Then she looked at him with limpid eyes and said:

"Yes. "

He knew--the sixth sense of the criminal investigator told him--that shelied, and he was taken aback. Why should she lie? What did she know? Whathad she to hide?

"Did you hear him snore going out, or coming in?" he said. 

"Both, " said Olivia firmly. 

Mr. Flexen hesitated. He did not believe her. Then he said: "How long didLord Loudwater sleep after dinner as a rule? What time did he go to bed?"

"It varied a good deal. Generally he awoke and went to bed before twelve. But sometimes it was nearer one, especially if he was disturbed and wentto sleep again. "

"Thank you, " said Mr. Flexen, and he left her and went back intothe Castle. 

Lord Loudwater had certainly been disturbed by the woman with whom hehad quarrelled. He might have slept on late. But why had Lady Loudwaterlied about the snoring? What did she know? What on earth was shehiding? Whom was she screening? Could it be Colonel Grey? Was he mixedup in the actual murder? Mr. Flexen decided that he must have moreinformation about Colonel Grey, that he would get into touch with him, and that soon. 

He had information about him sooner than he expected and without seekingit. Inspector Perkins was awaiting him, with Mrs. Turnbull, the landladyof the "Cart and Horses. " The inspector had learned from her that theLord Loudwater had paid a visit to her lodger the evening before, andthat they had quarrelled fiercely. Mr. Flexen heard her story andquestioned her. The important point in it seemed to him to be LordLoudwater's threats to hound Colonel Grey out of the Army. 

Mrs. Turnbull left him plenty to ponder. Mr. Manley had told him that thehandle of the famous knife would probably provide him with anembarrassment of riches in the way of finger-prints. It seemed to himthat the stories of William Roper, Mrs. Carruthers, and Mrs. Turnbull hadprovided him with an embarrassment of riches in the way of possiblemurderers. It grew clearer than ever to him that the inquest must beconducted with the greatest discretion, that as few facts as possiblemust be revealed at it. It was also clear to him that, unless the handleof the knife told a plain story, he would get nothing but circumstantialevidence, and so far he had gotten too much of it. 

He made up his mind that it would be best to see Colonel Grey at once andform his impression as to the likelihood of his having had a hand in thecrime. He was loth to believe that a V. C. Would murder in cold bloodeven as detestable a bully as the Lord Loudwater appeared to have been. But he had seen stranger things. Moreover, it depended on the type ofV. C. Colonel Grey was. V. C. S varied. 

Mr. Flexen lost no time. It was nearly six o'clock. It was likely thatthe Colonel would be back at his inn after his fishing. Mrs. Turnbull wassure that he had as usual gone fishing, for, when he set out in themorning, he had taken his rod with him. Antony Grey was not the man toomit a simple precaution like that. Therefore, Mr. Flexen ordered a carto be brought round, and was at the "Cart and Horses" by twenty past six. 

He found that Colonel Grey had indeed returned. He sent up his card;the maid came back and at once took him up to the Colonel'ssitting-room. Grey received him with an air of inquiry, which grew yetmore inquiring when Mr. Flexen told him that he was engaged ininvestigating the affair of Lord Loudwater's death. Therefore, Mr. Flexen came to the point at once. 

"I have been informed that Lord Loudwater paid you a visit last night, and that a violent quarrel ensued, Colonel Grey, " he said. 

"Pardon me; but the violence was all on Lord Loudwater's part, " saidColonel Grey in an exceedingly unpleasant tone. "I merely made myselfnasty in a quiet way. Violence is not in my line, unless I'm absolutelydriven to it; and any one less likely to drive any one to violence thanthat obnoxious and noisy jackass I've never come across. The fellow wasall words--abusive words. He'd no fight in him. I gave him every reason Icould think of to go for me because I particularly wanted to hammer him. But he hadn't got it in him. "

Grey spoke quietly, without raising his voice, but there was a rasp inhis tone that impressed Mr. Flexen. If a man could give such animpression of dangerousness with his voice, what would he be like inaction? He realized that here was a quite uncommon type of V. C. Herealized, too, that Lord Loudwater had made the mistake of a lifetime inhis attempt to bully him. Moreover, he had a strong feeling that if ithad seemed to Colonel Grey that Lord Loudwater was better out of theway, and a favourable opportunity had presented itself, he might verywell have displayed little hesitation in putting him out of the way. Hefelt that the obnoxious peer would have been little more than adangerous dog to him. 

He did not speak at once. He looked into Colonel Grey's grey eyes, andcold and hard they were, weighing him. Then he said: "Lord Loudwaterthreatened to hound you out of the Army, I'm told. "

"Among other things, " said Grey carelessly. 

Mr. Flexen guessed that the other things were threats to divorce LadyLoudwater. 

"That would have been a very serious blow to you, " he said. 

"You're quite--right, " said Colonel Grey. 

Mr. Flexen could have sworn that he had started to say: "You're quitewrong, " and changed his mind. 

The Colonel seemed to hesitate for words; then he went on: "It would havebeen a very heavy blow indeed. You can see that for a man who enlisted inthe Artists' Rifles in 1914, and fought his way up to the command of aregiment, nothing could be more painful. It would have beenheartbreaking; I should have been years getting over it. "

The rasp had gone out of his voice. He was speaking in a pleasant, confidential tone, and Mr. Flexen did not believe a word he said. At theleast he was exaggerating the distress he would have felt at leaving theArmy; but Mr. Flexen had the strongest feeling that he would have feltnext to no distress at all. Again he was astonished. Colonel Grey waslying to him just as Lady Loudwater had lied. What could be their reason?What on earth had they done?

He kept his astonishment out of his face, and said in a sympatheticvoice: "Yes, I can see that. And then, again, it would have been painfuland very unpleasant to feel that your thoughtlessness had landed LadyLoudwater in the Divorce Court. "

"Oh, Lord, no!" said Colonel Grey quickly. "There was no chance of anydivorce proceedings. Even for a divorce case, at any rate one brought bythe husband, there must be _some_ grounds; he must have _some_ evidence. The cock-and-bull story of a gamekeeper is hardly enough to found adivorce case on, is it?"

"Oh, I don't know. The gamekeeper might convince a jury. You know whatjuries are. You can never tell what form their stupidity will take, " saidMr. Flexen. 

"But apart from the lack of evidence, there was no chance of a divorcecase. I tell you, Loudwater hadn't got it in him, " said Greyconfidently. "He'd have threatened and been abusive. He'd have gone onthrowing that cock-and-bull story at Lady Loudwater for as long as shecontinued to stick to him; but it would have stopped at that. Hisinfernal temper never went any deeper than his lungs. Lady Loudwater hadnothing to fear. "

"Yet you think that he would have done his best to hound you out of theArmy?" said Mr. Flexen, finding this conception of Lord Loudwater as aharmless, if violent, vapourer somewhat inconsistent. 

"That's quite another matter, " said Grey quickly. "It merely meant usinghis influence behind my back with some scurvy politician. There wouldn'thave been any publicity attached to that, any exposure of his bullying. He'd have done that all right. "

"I should have thought that a man of Lord Loudwater's violent temperwould rather have sought an open row, " Mr. Flexen persisted. 

"Of course--if he'd been really violent. But he wasn't, I tell you. Hewas only a blustering bully where women and servants wereconcerned--people he could cow. I tell you, I made it quite clear that hecrumpled up directly you stood up to him. Why, hang it all! Any man withthe soul of a mouse who really believed that I had been making love tohis wife, couldn't have taken the things I told him without going for meat any risk. And as I'm still rather crocked up, and he knew it, theremust have seemed precious little risk about it. I tell you that he wasjust a blustering ruffian. "

Mr. Flexen had a strong impression that Colonel Grey was unused to beingas expansive as this, that he was talking for talking's sake, possiblyto put him off asking some question which would be difficult ordangerous to answer. He could not for the life of him think what thatquestion could be. 

"I daresay you're right, " he said carelessly. "Bullies aren't over-fondof a real scrap. But I am told that you paid a visit to the Castle lastnight and came away about a quarter past eleven. Did you?"

Colonel Grey showed no faintest disquiet on hearing that his visit toOlivia the night before was known. But he did not give Mr. Flexen time tofinish the sentence. 

He interrupted him, saying quickly: "Yes. I went to see Lady Loudwater. Ithought it likely that she would attach a good deal more importance toLoudwater's silly threats than they deserved and might be worrying. Itwould have been quite natural. I wanted to talk it over with her and sether mind at rest about it. It didn't take very long to do that, partlybecause it was a long time since he had really frightened her. She hadgot used to his tantrums and bullying; and even this new game had notdisturbed her very much. We both came to the conclusion that he was justblustering again, and wouldn't do anything. As a matter of fact, I don'tthink she cared very much what he did. She had got so fed up with himthat she didn't care whether they separated or not. "

Mr. Flexen felt more sure than ever that this garrulity was unusual inColonel Grey. He was talking with a purpose, apparently to induce him tobelieve that both he and Lady Loudwater had taken her husband's threat ofdivorce proceedings lightly. He began to think that they had not taken itlightly at all, or, at any rate, one or other of them had not. 

"Yes, " he said. "That's what always happens with those blustering'fellows. In the end no one takes them seriously. But what I came to askyou was: Did you, as you came through the library or went out through it, hear Lord Loudwater snore?"

Colonel Grey hesitated, just as Lady Loudwater had hesitated over thatquestion. Plainly he was weighing the effect of his answer. 

Then he said: "No. "

Mr. Flexen's instinct assured him that Colonel Grey had lied just as LadyLoudwater had lied. 

"Are you sure that nothing in the nature of a snore came to your ears asyou came out? Did you hear any sound from the room? You can see howimportant it is to fix as near as we possibly can the hour of LordLoudwater's death, " he said earnestly. 

"No, I heard nothing, " said Colonel Grey firmly. 

"Bother!" said Mr. Flexen. "It's very important. Possibly I shall be ableto find out from some one else. "

"I hope you will, " said Grey politely. 

Mr. Flexen bade him good-night cordially enough, and drove back to theCastle in a considerable perplexity. Both Colonel Grey and Lady Loudwaterwere behaving in an uncommonly odd, not to say suspicious manner. 

He was quite sure that both of them had lied about the dead man'ssnoring. But it was plain that either had lied with a different object. Lady Loudwater had lied to make it appear that her husband had been aliveat midnight. Colonel Grey had lied to make it appear that he was dead ata quarter-past eleven. But Mr. Flexen was sure that Colonel Grey hadheard Lord Loudwater snore and that Lady Loudwater had not. 

What did they know? What had they done? Or what had one of them done?

CHAPTER IX

When Mr. Flexen reached the Castle Wilkins took him to a bedroom in thewest wing. He found that his portmanteau had arrived, had been unpacked, and that his dress clothes were laid out ready for him on the bed. 

As he dressed he cudgelled his brains for the reason why LadyLoudwater and Colonel Grey had lied. Then an idea came to him: werethey lying to shield the unknown woman with whom Lord Loudwater hadhad that violent quarrel? The longer he considered this hypothesis themore possible it grew. 

He must find that unknown woman, and at once. Possibly Mr. Carrington, asLord Loudwater's legal adviser, would be able to put him on her track. 

He came to dinner, still perplexed, to find Mr. Manley waiting tobear him company. They talked for a while about public affairs andthe weather. 

Then Mr. Flexen said: "Was Lord Loudwater the kind of man to confide inhis lawyers?"

"Not if he could help it, " said Mr. Manley with conviction. 

Mr. Flexen hoped that Lord Loudwater had not been able to help confidingin his lawyers about this unknown woman. 

Then he said: "By the way, do you know Colonel Grey?"

"Oh, yes. He was here a lot up to a little while ago. Then he had a row, the inevitable row, with Lord Loudwater, and he hasn't been here since. He dropped on to Lord Loudwater for bullying Lady Loudwater, and hedidn't drop on him lightly either. Hell, I fancy, was what he gave him. "

"Yes; I gathered that something of the kind had taken place. What kind ofa man is the Colonel?" said Mr. Flexen carelessly. 

"The best man in the world not to have a row with. He's a cold terror, "said Mr. Manley, in a tone of enthusiastic conviction. "He always seemsrather cooler than a cucumber. But my belief is that that coolness isjust the mask of really violent emotions. I saw them working once. I camein on the end of his row with Loudwater--just the end of it--my goodness!From my point of view, the dramatist's, you know, he's the mostinteresting person in the county--bar Lady Loudwater, of course. "

"I should never have thought him a terror, " said Mr. Flexen, in a tone ofsomewhat incredulous surprise. "I had a talk with him this evening aboutLord Loudwater's death, and he seemed to me to be a pleasant enoughfellow and an excellent soldier. I take it that he's very keen on hiscareer in the Army?"

"Not a bit of it. The war is merely a side issue with him, " said Mr. Manley in an assured tone. "I know from what he told me himself. We weretalking over our experiences. "

"But, hang it all! he's a V. C. !" cried Mr. Flexen. 

"Yes, he's a V. C. All right. But that's because he's one of those menwho have the knack of taking an interest in everything they turn theirhands to, and doing it well. But his two passions are Chinese art andwomen, " said Mr. Manley. 

"Women?" said Mr. Flexen. "He didn't strike me as being that kind of manat all. He seemed a quite simple, straightforward soldier. "

"Simplicity and a passion for Chinese art don't go together--at least, not what is usually called simplicity, " said Mr. Manley dryly. "A friendof mine, who knows all about him, told me that he had had more reallyserious love affairs than any other man in London. He seems to be one ofthose men who fall in love hard every time they fall in love. He saidthat it was one of the mysteries of the polite world how he had kept outof the Divorce Court. "

"Sounds an odd type, " said Mr. Flexen, storing up the information, andmarking how little it agreed with his own observation of Colonel Grey. "And you say that Lady Loudwater is interesting too?"

"Oh, come! Are you pumping me or merely pulling my leg?" said Mr. Manley. "Surely you can see that Lady Loudwater is pure Italian Renaissance. Sheis one of those subtle, mysterious creatures that Leonardo and Luini werealways painting, compact of emotion. "

"It's so long since I was at Balliol, and then I was doing Indian Civilwork--the languages, you know. I've forgotten all I knew about theRenaissance in Italy, and I don't look at many pictures. All the same, Ithink you're wrong--your dramatic imagination, you know. My own idea isthat Lady Loudwater, at any rate, is a quite simple creature. "

"It isn't mine, " said Mr. Manley firmly. "She's a great deal toointelligent to be simple, and she comes of far too intelligent a family. "

"What family?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"She's a Quainton, with Italian blood in her veins. "

"The deuce she is!" cried Mr. Flexen, and half a dozen stories of theQuaintons rose in his mind. 

He must amend his impressions of Lady Loudwater. 

"And she has a keener sense of humour than any woman I ever came across, "said Mr. Manley, driving his contention home. 

"Has she?" said Mr. Flexen. 

There was a pause. Then Mr. Manley said in a musing tone: "Do you supposethat Colonel Grey finds her simple?"

"What? You don't think that there is really anything serious betweenthem?" said Mr. Flexen quickly. 

"No, not really serious--at any rate, on Colonel Grey's part. You canhardly expect a man, recovering very slowly from three bad wounds andstill crocked up, to fall in love, can you? Especially a man who, when hedoes fall in love, falls in love with the violence with which Grey ischarged, " said Mr. Manley. 

"There is that, " said Mr. Flexen. "But that wouldn't prevent LadyLoudwater from falling in love with Colonel Grey. And after the way herhusband treated her, she must have needed something in the way ofaffection--badly. "

"It's no good a woman falling in love with a man unless he falls in lovewith her, " said Mr. Manley, in the tone of a philosopher. "Besides, womendon't fall in love with men who are so feeble from illness as the Colonelseems to be. How can there be the attraction? She might, of course, wantto mother him very keenly. But that's quite a different thing. " Hepaused, then added in a tone of some anxiety: "I say, you're not tryingto mix her up with the murder--if it was a murder?"

"I'm not trying to mix anybody up in it, " said Mr. Flexen slowly. "But Idon't mind telling you that it is growing quite a pretty problem, and tosolve a problem you must have every factor in it. You see that thestrong point about both Lady Loudwater and Colonel Grey is, on your ownshowing, that they are uncommonly clever; and only stupid people commitmurder--except, of course, once in a blue moon. "

"But what about these gangs of criminals we sometimes read about, withextraordinarily clever men at the head of them? Don't they exist?" saidMr. Manley, in a tone of surprise. 

"They exist; but they don't commit murders--not in Europe, at any rate, "said Mr. Flexen. "In the East and in the United States it's differentperhaps. Murder is always as much of a blunder as a crime. It makespeople so keen after the criminal. No: no really intelligent criminalcommits murder. "

"Of course, that's true, " said Mr. Manley readily. He paused, then addedin a thoughtful tone: "I wonder whether the war has weakened ourconception of the sanctity of human life?"

"I shouldn't wonder, " said Mr. Flexen; and their talk drifted into adiscussion of generalities. 

He was glad that he was staying at the Castle. His talk with Mr. Manleyhad been illuminating. 

Olivia dined in her sitting-room, and with a poor appetite. Away fromGrey, she had fallen back into her anxiety and fearfulness. Wilkins waswaiting on her, an insensible block of a fellow; but even he perceivedthat she was very little aware of what she was eating, and now and againpaused, and in some worrying train of thought forgot that she wasdining at all. 

After dinner, however, her mood changed. The fearfulness and anxiety attimes vanished from her face, and a pleasant, eager expectancy tooktheir place. 

At a quarter to nine she took a dark wrap from her wardrobe, went quietlydown the stairs, and slipped out of the side door, across the east lawn, and into the path through the shrubbery, unseen. Grey had suggested thathe should come to the Castle after dinner to spend the evening with her;but they had decided that it would be wiser to meet in the pavilion. There would be talk if he spent the evening with her so soon after herhusband's death, with his body still unburied in the house. This was theonly mention they made of him all the time they spent together. Besides, both of them found the pavilion in the wood a far more delightfulmeeting-place than the Castle. In the pavilion they felt that they wereout of the world. 

Grey, too anxious and restless to await her at the pavilion, had comedown the wood and into the end of the path through the shrubbery. Itstartled her to come upon him so suddenly. But when they came out of theshrubbery into the moonlit aisle of the wood, the fearfulness andanxiety and restlessness had vanished utterly from their faces; both ofthem were smiling. 

They walked slowly, saying little, touching now and again as theyswayed in their walk along the turf. It seemed wiser not to light thecandles in the pavilion. The moonlight, shining through the highwindows, gave them light enough to see one another's eyes. It was allthey needed. The time passed quickly in the ineffable confidences oflovers. They had a hundred things to tell one another, a hundred thingsto ask one another, in their effort to attain that oneness which is theaim of all true love. But in their joy in being together, in the joy ofboth of them, there was a feverishness, a sense that it was a menacedjoy which must needs be brief. Again they were striving to wring themost out of the hour which was so swiftly passing. At times the sense ofdanger which hung over them was so strong, that they clung to oneanother like frightened children in the dark. 

Though Mr. Flexen had at the time shown himself somewhat unbelieving inthe matter of Mr. Manley's conclusions about the character andtemperament of Grey and Olivia, the impression they had made on him grewstronger. He was too good a judge of men not to perceive that the buddingdramatist had the intelligent imagination which makes for realshrewdness, and he was not disposed to underrate the value of theimagination in forming judgments of men and women. Probably Colonel Greywas a man of less intensity of emotion than Mr. Manley had declared, andLady Loudwater less subtile and intelligent. But, after making thesereductions, he had here possible actors in a drama of passion; and thoughit was his experience that money, not passion, is the most frequentmotive of murder, he must take the probability of Lord Loudwater's murderbeing a crime of passion into account, though, of course, the violentHutchings, threatened with ruin, would undoubtedly benefit from amonetary point of view by the murder. At the same time, Hutchings hadjust had an interview, which had gone better probably than he hadexpected, with an uncommonly pretty girl. 

Mr. Carrington arrived soon after breakfast next morning, and Mr. Flexenat once discussed the matter of the inquest with him and the Coroner. Hefound the lawyer chiefly eager to have as little scandal as possible, andthe Coroner took his cue from the lawyer. This suited Mr. Flexenadmirably. He had no wish to show his hand so early. He foresaw that ifthe story of William Roper were told, and the story of Lord Loudwater'squarrel with Colonel Grey at the "Cart and Horses, " there would be apainful scandal. The majority of the people of the neighbourhood would atonce believe and declare that Lady Loudwater, or Colonel Grey, or both, had murdered Lord Loudwater. Such a scandal would in no way serve hispurpose. It might rather hamper him. Pressure might be put on him whichmight force him to take steps before the time was ripe for them. 

There was no difficulty in their having exactly the kind of inquest theywanted, for it was wholly in the hands of Mr. Flexen and the Coroner. After careful discussion they decided to limit it to Dr. Thornhill'sevidence, and that of the servants with regard to the dead nobleman'smood on the night of his death. Mr. Carrington urged strongly that fullprominence should be given to the fact that the wound might have beenself-inflicted, and the Coroner promised that this should be done. 

When the Coroner had left them the lawyer said to Mr. Flexen: "In thecase of a man like the late Lord Loudwater, you can't be too careful, youknow. Really, it would be better if the jury brought in a verdict ofsuicide. A suicide in a family is always better than a murder. "

"H'm! You could hardly expect me to rest content with such a verdict, "said Mr. Flexen. "Not, I mean, on the evidence. "

"Oh, no; I shouldn't, " said Mr. Carrington. "All I want to avoid is a lotof quite unnecessary painful scandal, which won't lead to anything of useto you, about innocent people connected with my late client. You won'tact without something pretty definite to go upon, while thescandalmongers will talk on no grounds at all. Lord Loudwater was a queercustomer, and goodness knows what will come to light, for, of course, you'll investigate the affair thoroughly. "

The inquest accordingly was conducted on these lines. Only Dr. Thornhill, Wilkins and Holloway were called as witnesses; and the Coroner directedthe jury to bring in a verdict to the effect that Lord Loudwater had diedof a knife-wound, and that there was no evidence to show whether it wasself-inflicted or not. 

But in this he failed. The jury, muddle-headed, obstinate country folk, had made up their minds that Lord Loudwater was the kind of man to bemurdered, and that, therefore, he had been murdered. They brought inthe verdict that Lord Loudwater had been murdered by some person orpersons unknown. 

Mr. Flexen, Mr. Carrington and the Coroner were annoyed, but they had hadtoo wide an experience of juries to be surprised. 

"This will let loose a horde of reporters on us, " said Mr. Carringtonvery gloomily. 

"It will, " said Mr. Flexen. "The pet sleuths of the _Wire_ and the_Planet_ will leave London in about an hour. "

"Well, they'll have to be dealt with, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"Oh, they're all right. I probably know them. I'll get them to work withme. They must be treated very nicely, " said Mr. Flexen cheerfully. 

"They're always a confounded nuisance, " said Mr. Carrington, frowning. 

"Not if they're kindly treated. Indeed, I shall very likely find themreally useful, " said Mr. Flexen. "But you might give the servants ahint to be careful of what they say. The hint will come best from you, and be much more effective than if it came from any one else. Yourepresent the family. "

"I'll see about it, " said Mr. Carrington, and he went to Olivia's boudoirto confer with her about the invitations to the funeral. 

Mr. Flexen was, indeed, little disturbed by the prospect of the coming ofthe newspaper men. A popular member of the chief literary andjournalistic club in London, he would probably know them, or they wouldknow of him; and he would find them ready enough to work with him. Besides, even if they discovered that the quarrel between Colonel Greyand Lord Loudwater had its origin in Lady Loudwater, in the present stateof mind of the country, they would have to move very cautiously indeed inthe case of a V. C. 

He did not, indeed, think it likely that they would discover the cause ofthe quarrel for some time--possibly not before their papers had tired ofthe business and sent them on other errands. Mrs. Turnbull only knew ofLord Loudwater's threat to hound Colonel Grey out of the Army; she didnot know the reason of his fury and his threat. Elizabeth Twitcher wouldcertainly hold her tongue about Lord Loudwater's subsequent quarrel withLady Loudwater, and his accusations and threats; Mrs. Carruthers was evenmore unlikely to tell of it. It was unlikely that William Roper wouldcome within the ken of the newspaper men. No one could tell them that hewas the great repository of facts in the case, and Mr. Flexen believedthat he had given him good cause to keep his mouth shut till he called onhim to open it. 

Taking one thing with another, he thought it more than likely that thenewspaper men would not hinder him in his purpose of dealing with theaffair in his own way. 

On the other hand, they might very well be used to help him discover theunknown woman who had had the furious quarrel with Lord Loudwater atabout eleven o'clock. Indeed, he regarded the information about thatquarrel as a sop to be thrown to them. She afforded just the element ofmelodrama in the case which would be most grateful to their differentnewspapers, and provide them with plenty of the kind of headlines whichbest sold them. It was certain that James Hutchings would also occupytheir attention. The fact that he had been discharged with contumely andthreats, that he had departed uttering violent threats against the deadman, and that he had returned to visit Elizabeth Twitcher late thatnight, were doubtless being discussed by the whole neighbourhood. However, only himself and William Roper knew, at present, that JamesHutchings had come and gone by the library window, had actually passedtwice within a few feet of his sleeping, or dead, master. That fact, also, Mr. Flexen proposed to keep to himself till he saw reason todivulge it. His next business must be to question Hutchings. 

It was quite likely that there lay the solution of the mystery. 

CHAPTER X

It would have been easy enough for Mr. Flexen to send for Hutchings tothe Castle and question him there. But he did not. In the first place, hedid not think it fair to a man who had already prejudiced himself soseriously by his threats against the murdered man. Besides, he would beat a disadvantage, under a greater strain at the Castle, and Mr. Flexenwanted him where he would be at his best, for he wished to be able toform an exact judgment of the likelihood of his being the murderer. Indeed, it must be a very careful and exact judgment, for he felt that hewas moving in deep waters; that it was a case in which it was possible, even easy, to go hopelessly wrong. Also, he was fully alive to the factthat if threatened men live long, the men who threaten are to blame forit, and that threats such as Hutchings' are the commonest things in theworld, and, as a rule, of very little importance. But there was alwaysthe chance that Hutchings was the unusual threatener; and, if he were, hehad assuredly been in circumstances most favourable to the carrying outof his threats. 

Accordingly he learnt from Inspector Perkins the way to the gamekeeper'scottage in the West Wood, where Hutchings was staying with his father, and drove the car to it himself. Hutchings was alone in the cottage, forhis father was out on his rounds. He invited Mr. Flexen to come in. Mr. Flexen came in, sat down in an arm-chair, and examined Hutchings' face. He saw that the man was plainly very anxious and ill at ease. It wasnatural enough. He must perceive quite clearly how black against himthings looked. 

He was forced also to admit to himself that Hutchings had not a pleasantface. It was choleric and truculent, and in spite of the man's evidentanxiety, there was a sullen fierceness on it which gave him no little ofthe air of a wild beast trapped. 

Mr. Flexen wasted no time beating about the bush, but said to him: "Whenyou visited Elizabeth Twitcher last night you entered and left the Castleby the library window. "

"You got that from that young blighter Manley, " said Hutchings bitterly. 

"Not at all. I did not know that Mr. Manley knew it, " said Mr. Flexen. "So you did?"

"Yes, sir, I did. I always went to the village that way in thesummer-time. It's the shortest. Besides, his lordship was nearly alwaysasleep; and if he wasn't and did 'ear me, there was always something Icould be doing in the library, sir. "

He spoke with eager, rather humble civility. 

"Well, did you, as you went through the library, coming or going, hearLord Loudwater snore?"

Hutchings knitted his brow, thinking; then he said: "I can't call to mindas I did, sir. But, then, I wasn't giving him any attention. I wasthinking about other things altogether. Of course, I went out quietlyenough. But that was habit. "

"That sounds as if you had not heard him snore--as if you thought that hewas awake, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"I don't think I thought about him at all, sir, at the moment. I wasthinking about other things, " said Hutchings. 

"You say that Mr. Manley saw you go out?"

"Yes, sir. I passed him in the hall and went into the library. We had afew words, and I told him I had come to fetch some cigarettes as I'dleft behind. "

"Do you know what the time was?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"No, sir--not exactly. But it must have been nearly half-past eleven, Ishould think. "

"It is very important to fix the time at which Lord Loudwater died, " saidMr. Flexen. "You can't tell me nearer than that?"

"No, sir. It was nearly ten to twelve when I got home, and I reckon it'sabout twenty minutes' walk from the Castle to the cottage here. "

"And all you went to the Castle for was to speak to Elizabeth Twitcher?"said Mr. Flexen. 

"That was all I went for--every single thing. And it was all I didthere--every mortal thing I did there, sir, " Hatchings asseverated, andhe wiped his brow. 

"H'm!" said Mr. Flexen. "As you passed through the library, did youhappen to notice whether the knife was in its place in the big inkstand?"

Hutchings hesitated, and his lips twitched. Then he said: "Yes, I did, sir. It was in the big inkstand. "

Mr. Flexen could not make up his mind whether he was telling the truth ornot. He thought that he was not. But he did not attach much importance tothe matter. People who knew themselves to be suspected of a crime hadoften told him quite stupid and unnecessary lies and been proved innocentafter all. 

"I should have thought that your mind was too full of other things tonotice a thing like that, " he said in a somewhat incredulous tone. 

Then there came an outburst. Mr. Flexen had thought that Hutchings wasworked up to a high degree of nervous tension, and he was. He cried outthat he knew that every one believed that he had done it; but he hadn't. He'd never thought of it. He was damned if he didn't wish he had done it. He might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, anyhow. He broke off tocurse Lord Loudwater at length. He had been a curse to every one who cameinto contact with him while he was alive, and now he was getting peopleinto trouble when he was dead. Yes: he wished it had occurred to him tostick that knife into him. He'd have done it like a shot, and he'd havedone the right thing. The world was well rid of a swine like that!

His face was contorted, and his eyes kept gleaming red as he talked, andhe came to the end of his outburst, trembling and panting. 

Mr. Flexen was unmoved and unenlightened. It was merely the outburstof a badly-frightened man lacking in self-control, and told himnothing. It left it equally likely that Hutchings had, or had not, committed the crime. 

"There's nothing to get so frantic about, " he said quietly to the pantingman. "It doesn't do any good. "

"It's all very well to talk like that, sir, " said Hutchings in a shakyvoice. "But I know what people are saying. It's enough to make any onelose their temper. "

"I should think that yours was pretty easy to lose, " said Mr. Flexen dryly. 

"I know it. It is very short, sir. It always was; and I can't help it, "said Hutchings in an apologetic voice. 

"Then you'd better set about learning to help it, my man, " saidMr. Flexen. 

He took out his pipe and filled it slowly. The flush faded a little fromHutchings' face. Mr. Flexen lighted his pipe and rose. 

Then as he went to the door he said: "I should advise you to get thatstupid temper well in hand. It makes a bad impression. Good afternoon. "

Mr. Flexen drove back to the Castle, considering Hutchings carefully. There was no doubt that he was, indeed, badly frightened; but he hadreason to be. Mr. Flexen could not decide whether he had worn the air ofa guilty man or an innocent. He could not decide whether the butler hadbeen too deeply absorbed in his own affairs to hear the snoring of LordLoudwater as he went through the library. It was possible that LordLoudwater was alive, asleep, and yet not snoring at the time. Snoring isoften intermittent. 

He considered Hutchings' violent outburst. Certainly such an outburstshowed the man uncommonly unbalanced; it might, indeed, on occasion takethe form of uncontrollable murderous fury. But it seemed to him that anactual meeting with Lord Loudwater would have been necessary to provokethat. But Lord Loudwater had been sitting in his chair when he died; andif he had not killed himself, he had been killed in his sleep. At anyrate, there was probably sufficient evidence, seeing what juries are, toconvict Hatchings. If he had been one of those not uncommon ministers ofthe law, whose only desire is to secure a conviction, he would doubtlessarrest him at once. But it was not his only desire to secure aconviction; it was his very keen desire to find the right solution of theproblem. He could not see where any more evidence against Hutchings wasto come from. What Mr. Manley had told him about the knife, that it hadbeen in general use, and that he had seen Hutchings cut string with itthe day before the murder, greatly lessened its value as evidence, evenif Hutchings' finger-prints were thick on it. He decided to dismissHutchings from his mind for the time being, and devote all his energiesto discovering the mysterious woman with whom Lord Loudwater had had thefurious quarrel between eleven and a quarter-past. 

With this end in view, on his return to the Castle, he went straight tothe library, where Mr. Carrington was engaged, along with Mr. Manley, inan examination of the murdered man's papers. They were uncommonly few, and Mr. Manley had already set them in order. Lord Loudwater seemed tohave kept but few letters, and the papers consisted chiefly of receiptedand unreceipted bills. 

When he found that Mr. Flexen had come to confer with the lawyer, Mr. Manley assumed an air of extraordinary discretion and softly withdrew. 

"I want to know--it is most important--whether there was anyentanglement between Lord Loudwater and a woman, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"I should think it very unlikely, " said Mr. Carrington withouthesitation. "At least, I have never heard of anything of the kind, and so far I have come across no trace of anything of the kind amonghis papers. "

Mr. Flexen frowned, considering; then he said: "Do you happen to knowwhether he employed any one besides your firm to do legal work for him?"

"As to that I can't say. But I should not think it likely. It was alwaysa business to get him to attend to anything that wanted doing, and healways made a fuss about it. I can't see him employing another firm too. But he may have done. The only thing is that I ought to have found eithertheir bills or the receipts for them among those papers--except that mylate client does not appear to have taken the trouble to keep manyreceipts. "

"The thing is that I've learnt that Lord Loudwater had a furious quarrelwith some unknown woman between eleven and a quarter-past on the night ofhis death, and I want to find her. You can see how important it is. Itmay be that she stabbed him, or it may be that she provided him with themotive to commit suicide--not that that seems likely. But you can't tell:she might have been able to threaten him with some exposure. Those peoplewithout any self-control are always doing the most senselessthings--bigamy, for instance, is often one of their weaknesses. "

"Loudwater was certainly without self-control; but I hardly think that hewas the man to commit bigamy, " said the lawyer. 

"It would very much simplify matters if he had, " said Mr. Flexen ina dissatisfied tone. "I wonder whether Manley would know anythingabout it?"

"He might, " said Mr. Carrington. 

Mr. Flexen went through the library window to find Mr. Manley strollingup and down the lawn with every appearance of enjoying his pipe and therespite from perusing papers. 

"Mr. Carrington tells me that you were in Lord Loudwater's confidence, "said Mr. Flexen. 

"Wholly, " said Mr. Manley, with more promptness than his actual knowledgeof the facts warranted. 

It seemed to him fitting that a secretary of his intelligence anddiscretion should have been wholly in the confidence of any nobleman whoemployed him. Therefore he himself must have been. 

"Then perhaps you can tell me whether he was entangled with a woman, "said Mr. Flexen. 

"Entangled? In what way?" said Mr. Manley in a tone of surprise. 

"In the usual way, I suppose. Was he engaged in a love-affair with anywoman, or had he been?"

"He certainly did not tell me anything about it if he was, " said Mr. Manley. "But that is the kind of thing he might very well _not_ confideto his secretary. "

"You don't happen to know if he was making any payments to a woman--anallowance, for example?" said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley was well on his guard by now. These questions must surelyrefer to Helena. 

"He never told me anything about it, " he said with perfect readiness. "Not, of course, that I would tell you if he had, " he added, in his mostamiable voice. "I've told you that I thought that he made enough troublewhile he was alive. I won't help him to make trouble now that he's dead. "

Mr. Flexen thought that the asseveration was unnecessary, since Mr. Manley had not the knowledge which would make the trouble. He returned tothe lawyer and told him that Mr. Manley had no information to give. 

"It seems a very important point in the affair, " said the lawyer. 

"It is, " said Mr. Flexen, frowning. "I wonder if there was an intriguewith a country girl or woman, some one in the neighbourhood?"

"There might have been. Lord Loudwater rode a great deal. He washours in the saddle every day. He had time and opportunity for thatkind of thing. "

"On the other hand, there's no need for it to have been any one in theneighbourhood at all. To say nothing of the train, it's a short enoughmotor drive from London; and it was a moonlight night, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Then you may be able to find traces of the car. The woman must have leftit somewhere while she had the interview with Lord Loudwater, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"I'll try, " said Mr. Flexen, not very hopefully, "But there are so fewpeople about at night nowadays. Five out of the eight gamekeepers arestill abroad. In ordinary times there would have been four at least ofthem about the roads and woods. On that night there was only one. "

"There's the further difficulty that Lord Loudwater had so few friends. That will make it harder to find out anything about an affair of thiskind--if he had one, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"It will, indeed, " said Mr. Flexen, and paused, frowning. Then headded gravely: "I'm sure that there was such an affair, and I've gotto find the woman. "

CHAPTER XI

Mr. Manley did not lunch with Mr. Flexen and the lawyer. In cultivatingMr. Flexen he had been forced to see less than usual of Helena, and, interesting a companion as Mr. Flexen was, Mr. Manley very much preferredher society. He found her less nervous than she had been the day before, but she still wore a sufficiently anxious air, and was still restless. She seemed more pleased to see him than usual, and the warmth of herwelcome gave him a sudden sense that she was even fonder of him than hehad thought, or hoped. It stirred him to an admirable response. 

At lunch she questioned him with uncommon particularity about theproceedings of Mr. Flexen, the discoveries he had made, the lines onwhich he was making his investigation. Her interest seemed naturalenough, and he told her all that he knew, which was little. She seemedmuch disappointed by his lack of information. He was careful not to tellher that Mr. Flexen had inquired of him whether he knew of anyentanglement between Lord Loudwater and a woman. Thanks to hisimagination he was a young man of uncommon discretion, and it was plainthat she was suffering anxiety enough. 

At the end of her fruitless questioning she sighed and said: "Of course, the whole affair is of no great interest to you really. "

"It isn't of very great interest to me, " said Mr. Manley. "You see, thevictim of the crime, if it was a crime, was such an uninterestingcreature. Nature, as I've told you before, intended him for a bull, changed her mind when it was too late to make a satisfactory alteration, and botched it. You must admit that the bull man is a very dull kind ofcreature, unless he can make things lively for you by prodding you withhis horns. When he is dead, he is certainly done with. "

"I wish he was done with, " she said, with a sigh. 

"Well, as far as you are concerned, he is done with, surely, " he said, insome surprise. 

"Of course, of course, " she said quickly. "But still, he seems likely togive a great deal of trouble to somebody; and if there is a trial, how amI to know that my name won't be brought up?"

"I don't think there's a chance of it, " he said. "How should it bebrought up?"

"One never knows, " she said, with a note of nervous dread in her voice. 

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, he'll get no help in making a posthumousnuisance of himself from me; and I'm inclined to think that, as thingsare going, he'll need my help to do that, " he said in a tone of quietsatisfaction. 

"A posthumous nuisance--you do have phrases! And how you do dislikehim!" she said. 

"The moderately civilized man, with a gentle disposition like mine, always does hate the bull man. Also, he despises him, " said Mr. Manley calmly. 

She was silent a while, thinking; then she said: "What did you mean bysaying: 'If it was a crime. ' What else could it have been?"

"A suicide. The evidence was that the wound might have beenself-inflicted, " said Mr. Manley. 

"Absurd! Lord Loudwater was the last man in the world to commit suicide!"she cried. 

"That's purely a matter of individual opinion. I am of the opinion that aman of his uncontrollable temper was quite likely to commit suicide, " hesaid firmly. "As for its being absurd, if there is any attempt to proveany one guilty of murdering him on purely circumstantial evidence, thatperson won't find anything absurd in the theory at all. In fact, he'llwork it for all it's worth. I think myself that, with Dr. Thornhill'sevidence in mind, the police, or the Public Prosecutor, or the Treasury, or whoever it is that decides those things, will never attempt in thiscase to bring any one to trial for the murder on merely circumstantialevidence. "

"Do you think not?" she said in a tone of relief. 

"I'm sure of it, " said Mr. Manley. "But why do we waste our time talkingabout the tiresome fellow when there are things a thousand times moreinteresting to talk about? Your eyes, now--"

Mr. Flexen instructed Inspector Perkins and his men to make inquiriesabout the rides of Lord Loudwater and to try to learn whether any one hadseen a strange car, or, indeed, a car of any kind, in the neighbourhoodof the Castle about eleven o'clock on the night of the murder. Also, hecould see his way to using the newspaper men to help him to discoverwhether there had been any entanglement known to the club gossips or thepeople of the neighbourhood between Lord Loudwater and a lady in London. It was not unlikely that he had talked of it to some one, for if theyquarrelled so furiously he must need sympathy; and if he had not talked, the lady probably had, though it might very well be that she was not inthe circle in which the Loudwaters moved in London. He had some doubt, however, that she was a London woman at all. She had shown too intimate aknowledge of Lord Loudwater's habits at Loudwater and of the Castleitself, for it was clear from William Roper's story that she had gonestraight to the library window and through it, in the evident expectationof finding Lord Loudwater asleep as usual in his smoking-room. It wasthis doubt which prevented him from appealing to Scotland Yard for helpin clearing up this particular point. He wished to make sure first thatthe woman did not belong to the neighbourhood. On the other hand, shemight always be some one who had been a guest at the Castle. 

He was about to go in search of Lady Loudwater to question her abouttheir friends and acquaintances who might have this knowledge of theCastle and the habits of her husband, when the sleuth from the _Wire_ andthe sleuth from the _Planet_ arrived together, in all amity and the samevexation at being prevented by this errand from spending the afternoon atthe same bridge table. The sleuth of the _Wire_ was a very solemn-lookingyoung man, with a round, simple face. The sleuth of the _Planet_ was atall, dark man, with an impatient and slightly worried air, who lookeduncommonly like an irritable actor-manager. 

Both of them greeted Mr. Flexen with affectionate warmth, and Douglas, the tall sleuth of the _Planet_, at once deplored, with considerablebitterness, the fact that he had been robbed of his afternoon's bridge. Gregg, the sleuth of the _Wire_, preserved a gently-blinking, sympathetic silence. 

Mr. Flexen at once sent for whisky, soda and cigars, and over them tookhis two friends into his confidence. He told them that it was verydoubtful whether it was a case of murder or suicide; that the jury'sverdict was not in accordance with the directions of the Coroner, butjust a piece of natural, pig-headed stupidity. This produced anotherbitter outcry from Douglas about the loss of his afternoon. Mr. Flexendid not soothe him at all by pointing out that he was in a beautifulcountry on a beautiful day. Then he told them about the coming of themysterious woman and her violent quarrel with the Lord Loudwater justabout the probable time of his death. Douglas at once lost his irritatedair and displayed a lively interest in the matter; Gregg listened andblinked. Mr. Flexen told them also of Hutchings, his threats, and hisvisit to the Castle. That was as far as his confidences went. But theywere enough. He had given them the very things they wanted, and they bothassured him that they would at once inform him of any discoveries theymight make themselves. They left him feeling sure that he might safelyleave the servants and the villagers to them and the policemen. If anyone in the neighbourhood knew anything about the mysterious woman, theywould probably ferret it out. What was far more important was thattomorrow's _Wire_ and _Planet_ would contain such an advertisement of herthat any one in London or the country who knew of her relations with thedead man would learn at once the value of that knowledge. 

When they had gone he sent for Mrs. Carruthers, and learned, to hisannoyance, that none of the upper servants except Elizabeth Twitcher hadbeen in service at the Castle for more than four months. She could onlysay that during the six weeks that she had been housekeeper there hadbeen very few visitors; and they had been merely callers, except whenColonel Grey had been coming to the Castle and there had been smalltennis parties. She had heard nothing from the servants about hislordship's being on particularly friendly terms with any lady in theneighbourhood. Hutchings would be the most likely person to know a thinglike that. He had been in service at the Castle all his life. Of course, her ladyship, too, she might know. 

Mr. Flexen made up his mind to seek out Hutchings at once and questionhim on the matter; but Mrs. Carruthers had only just left him when he sawOlivia come into the rose-garden with Colonel Grey. He watched them idlyand perceived that, for the time being at any rate, Olivia had lost herstrained and anxious air. She was plainly enough absorbed, whollyabsorbed, in Grey. She had eyes only for him, and Mr. Flexen suspectedthat her ears were at the moment deaf to everything but the sound of hisvoice. They did look a well-matched pair. 

It occurred to him that he might as well again question Olivia about herhusband's possible intrigue with another woman and be done with it. Therecould be no harm in Colonel Grey's hearing the questions. As forinterrupting their pleasant converse, he thought that they would soonrecover from the interruption. Accordingly he went out to therose-garden. 

Absorbed in one another, they did not see him till he was right on them, and then he saw a curious happening. At the sight of him a sudden, simultaneous apprehension filled both their faces, and they drew closertogether. But he had an odd fancy that they did not draw together formutual protection, but mutually to protect. Then, almost on the instant, they were gazing at him with politely inquiring eyes, Lady Loudwatersmiling. He felt that they were intensely on their guard. It wasuncommonly puzzling. 

He changed his mind about questioning Lady Loudwater in the presence ofGrey, and asked if she could spare him a minute or two to answer a fewquestions. 

"Oh, yes. I'm sure Colonel Grey will excuse me, " she said readily. 

"But why shouldn't you question Lady Loudwater before me?" said ColonelGrey coolly; but he slapped his thigh nervously with the pair of gloveshe was carrying. "It's always as well for a woman to have a man at handin an awkward affair like this, which may lead to a good deal ofunpleasantness if anything goes wrong. I'm a friend of Lady Loudwater, and I don't suppose you fear that anything you discuss before me will goany further, Mr. Flexen. "

He was cool enough, but Mr. Flexen did not miss the note of anxiety inhis voice. 

"I don't mind at all if Lady Loudwater would like it, " he said readily. "But it's rather a delicate matter. "

"Oh, I should like Colonel Grey to hear everything, " said Olivia quickly. 

"It's about the matter of an entanglement between Lord Loudwater and somelady. Are you quite sure there was nothing of the kind before hismarriage, if not after it?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"I don't know for certain, " said Olivia readily. "But two or three timesLord Loudwater did talk about other women in a boasting sort of way. Only it was when he was trying to annoy me; so I didn't pay muchattention to it. "

"And you never tried to find out whether it was the truth or not?" saidMr. Flexen. 

"No, never. You see, I didn't particularly care, " said Olivia, withunexpected frankness. "If I'd cared, I expect it would have been verydifferent. "

"And did Lord Loudwater never mention the name of any lady when he wasboasting?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"No. Never. It was just general boasting. And he certainly gave me tounderstand that it was two or three, not one, " said Olivia. 

"Have you any suspicion that he had any particular lady in mind--any ofyour common friends, for example--some one who has stayed at the Castle?"said Mr. Flexen. 

"None at all. I haven't the slightest idea who it could have been. Itmust have been some one I don't know, or I should have been nearly sureto notice something, " said Olivia. 

"Can you tell me any one who might know?"

Olivia shook her head, and said: "No. I don't know any friend of myhusband well enough to say. He never told me who his chief friends were. It never occurred to me that he had an intimate friend. I always thoughthe hadn't, in fact. "

"I tell you what: you might inquire of Outhwaite, you know the man Imean, the man who used always to be getting fined for furious driving. Hewas a friend of Loudwater, the only friend I ever heard him mention, indeed. If he ever confided in any one, that would be the most likelyman, " said Colonel Grey. 

"Thank you. That's an idea. I'll certainly try him, " said Mr. Flexen, andhe turned as if to go. 

But Olivia stopped him, saying: "Do you think, then, that a woman did it, Mr. Flexen?"

"Well, there is a certain amount of evidence which lends some colour tothat theory, but I don't want any one to know that, " said Mr. Flexen. 

And then he could have sworn that he heard Olivia breathe a faint sighof relief. 

But Colonel Grey broke in in a tone of some acerbity and more anxiety:"It's nonsense to talk of any one having done it in face of themedical evidence--any one, that is, but Loudwater himself. Hecommitted suicide. "

"You think him a likely man to have committed suicide, do you?" saidMr. Flexen. 

"Yes. A man of his utterly uncontrollable temper is the very man tocommit suicide, " said Colonel Grey firmly. 

"It is, of course, always possible that he committed suicide, " said Mr. Flexen in a non-committal tone. 

"It's most probable, " said Colonel Grey curtly. 

"What do you think, Lady Loudwater?" said Flexen. 

"Why, I haven't thought much about it. I always--I--but now I do thinkabout it, I--I--think it's not unlikely, " said Olivia, in a tone of nogreat conviction. "And he was so frightfully upset, too, that night--notthat he had any reason to be; but he was. "

"Ah, well; my duty is to investigate the matter till there isn't a shadowof doubt left, " said Mr. Flexen in a pleasant voice. "I daresay that Ishall get to the bottom of it. "

With that he left them and went back into the Castle. 

At the sight of his back Olivia breathed so deep a sigh of relief thatGrey winced at it. 

"If only it could be proved that Egbert did commit suicide!" she saidwistfully. 

"I don't see any chance of it, " said Colonel Grey gloomily. Then headded in a tone of but faint hope: "Unless he wrote to one of his friendsthat he intended to commit suicide. "

Olivia shook her head and said: "Egbert wouldn't do that. He hatedletter-writing. "

"Besides, if he had, we should have heard of it by now, " said Grey. 

"The friend might be away, " said Olivia. "I know that Mr. Outhwaite wasin France. "

"That's hoping too much, " said Grey. 

They strolled on in silence, his eyes on her thoughtful face, which underMr. Flexen's questioning had again grown anxious. Then he said: "This sunis awfully hot. Let's stroll through the wood to the pavilion. It will bedelightful there. "

"Very well, " said Olivia, smiling at him. 

Mr. Flexen went back to his room, rang for Holloway, and bade him findMr. Manley, if he were in, and ask him to come to him. Holloway went, andpresently returned to say that Mr. Manley had gone out to lunch, but leftword that he would be back to dinner. 

Mr. Flexen, therefore, gave his mind to the consideration of his talkwith Colonel Grey and Olivia, and the longer he considered it, the moretheir attitude intrigued and puzzled him. They certainly knew somethingabout the murder, something of the first importance. What could it be?

Again he asked himself could either, or both of them, have actually hada hand in it? It seemed improbable; but he was used to the improbablehappening. He could not believe that either of them would have dreamt ofcommitting murder to gain a personal end--to save themselves, forexample, from the injuries with which Lord Loudwater had threatened them. But would they commit murder to save some one else, one to save theother, for example, from such an injury? Murder was, indeed, a violentmeasure; but Mr. Flexen was inclined to think that either of them mighttake it. Mr. Manley's confident declaration that they were both creaturesof strong emotions had impressed him. He felt that Colonel Grey, underthe impulse to save Lady Loudwater, would stick at very little; and hewas used to violence and to hold human life cheap. On the other hand, Lady Loudwater would go a long way--a very long way--if any one she lovedwere threatened. The fact that she had good Italian blood in her veinswas very present in his mind. 

Again, it would be a matter of sudden impulse, not of grave deliberation. The irritating sound of Lord Loudwater's snores and the sight of thegleaming knife-blade on the library table coming together after theirpainful and moving discussion of their dangers might awake the impulse tobe rid of him, at any cost, in full strength. He was not disposed tounderrate the suggestion of that naked knife-blade on them when theywere strung to such a height of emotion. Again, he asked himself, hadeither of them murdered Lord Loudwater to save the other?

At any rate, they knew who had committed the murder. Of that he was sure. 

Could they be shielding a third person? If so, who was that third person?

CHAPTER XII

Mr. Flexen sat pondering this question of a third person for a goodtwenty minutes. 

It could not be Hutchings. There would be no reason to shield Hutchingsunless they had instigated or employed him to commit the murder, and thatwas out of the question. He was not sure, indeed, that Hutchings was notthe murderer; the snores and the knife were as likely to have excited themurderous impulse in him as in them. He was quite sure that if Dr. Thornhill had been able to swear that the wound was not self-inflicted, he could have secured the conviction of Hutchings. But it was incrediblethat Lady Loudwater or Colonel Grey had employed him to commit themurder. No; if they were shielding a third person, it must be themysterious, unknown woman who had come with such swift secrecy and sowholly disappeared. 

It grew clearer and clearer that there most probably lay that solutionof the problem. If that woman herself had not murdered Lord Loudwater, as seemed most likely, she might very well give him the clue for whichhe was groping. He must find her, and, of course, sooner or later hewould find her. But the sooner he found her, the sooner would theproblem be solved and his work done. Till he found her he would not findits solution. 

It still seemed to him probable that somewhere among Lord Loudwater'spapers there was information which would lead to her discovery, and hewent into the library to confer again with Mr. Carrington on the matter. He found him discussing the arrangements for tomorrow's funeral with Mrs. Carruthers and Wilkins. 

When they had gone he said: "Did you come across any information aboutthat mysterious woman in the rest of the papers?"

"Not a word, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"I've been thinking that you might come across traces of her in hispass-books--payments or an allowance. "

"I thought of that. But there's only one passbook, the one in use. LordLoudwater doesn't seem to have kept them after they were filled. AndManley knows all about this one; he wrote out every cheque in it forLoudwater, and he is quite sure that there were no cheques of any sizefor a woman among them. "

"That's disappointing, " said Mr. Flexen. "What about the cheques to'Self'? Are there any large ones among them?"

"No. They're all on the small side--distinctly on the smallside--cheques for ten pounds--and very few of them. "

"It is queer that it should be so difficult to find any informationabout a woman who played such an important part in his life, " said Mr. Flexen gloomily. 

"It's not so very uncommon, " said the lawyer. 

"Well, let's hope that the advertisement she'll get from my newspaperfriends will bring her to light, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"It would be a pleasant surprise to me to find them serving some usefulpurpose, " said Mr. Carrington grimly. 

Mr. Flexen laughed and said: "You're prejudiced. It's about time to dressfor dinner. "

Mr. Carrington rose with alacrity and said anxiously, "I hope to goodnessLoudwater didn't quarrel with his chef!"

"I've no reason to think so. The food's excellent, " said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley joined them at dinner, wearing his best air of a discreet andindulgent man of the world, and confident of making himself valued. Hewas in very good spirits, for he had persuaded Helena to marry him thatday month, and was rejoicing in his success. He did not tell Mr. Flexen, or Mr. Carrington, of his good fortune. He felt that it would hardlyinterest them, since neither of them knew Helena or was intimate withhimself. But, inspired by this success, he took the lead in theconversation, and showed himself inclined to be somewhat patronizing totwo men outside the sphere of imaginative literature. 

It was Mr. Flexen who broached the subject of the murder. 

After they had talked of the usual topics for a while, he said: "By theway, Manley, did you hear Lord Loudwater snore after Hutchings went intothe library, or before?"

"So you know that I saw Hutchings in the hall that night?" said Mr. Manley. "It's wonderful how you find things out. I didn't tell you, and Ishould have thought that I was the only person awake in the front part ofthe Castle. I suppose that some one saw him getting his cigarettes fromthe butler's pantry. "

"So that was the reason he gave you for being in the Castle, " said Mr. Flexen. "Well, was it after or before you spoke to him that you heardLord Loudwater snore?"

Mr. Manley hesitated, thinking; then he said: "I can't remember at themoment. You see, I was downstairs some little time. I found an eveningpaper in the dining-room and looked through it there. I might have heardhim from there. "

"You can't remember?" said Mr. Flexen in a tone of disappointment. 

"Not at the moment, " said Mr. Manley. "Is it important?"

"Yes; very important. It would probably help me to fix the time of LordLoudwater's death. "

"I see. A lot may turn on that, " said Mr. Manley thoughtfully. 

"Yes. You can see how immensely it helps to have a fact like that fixed, "said Mr. Flexen. 

"Yes: of course, " said Mr. Manley. "Well, I must try to remember. Idaresay I shall, if I keep the fact in my mind gently, and do not try towrench the recollection out of it. You know how hard it is to remember athing, if it hasn't caught your attention fairly when it happened. "

"Yes, " said Mr. Flexen. "But I hope to goodness you'll remember itquickly. It may be of the greatest use to me. "

"Ah, yes; I must, " said Mr. Manley, giving him a queer look. 

"I was forgetting, " said Mr. Flexen, understanding the thought behind thequeer look. "You'd hardly believe it, Mr. Carrington, but Mr. Manley toldme at the very beginning of this business that he was not going to helpin any way to discover the murderer of Lord Loudwater, because heconsidered that murderer a benefactor of society. "

"But I never heard of such a thing!" cried the lawyer in a tone ofastonished disapproval. "Such a course might be possible in the case ofsome minor crime, or in a person intimately connected with the criminalin the case of a major crime. But for an outsider to pursue such acourse in the case of a murder is unheard of--absolutely unheard of. "

"I daresay it isn't common, " said Mr. Manley in a tone of modestsatisfaction. "But I am modern; I claim the right of private judgment inall matters of morality. "

"Oh, that won't do--that won't do at all!" cried the shocked lawyer. "There would be hopeless confusion--in fact, if everybody did that, thelaw might easily become a dead letter--absolutely a dead letter. "

"But there's no fear of everybody doing anything of the kind. The ruckof men have no private judgment to claim the right of. They takewhatever's given them in the way of morals by their pastors and masters. Only exceptional people have ideas of their own to carry out; and thereare not enough exceptional people to make much difference, " said Mr. Manley calmly. 

"But, all the same, such principles are subversive of society--absolutelysubversive of society, " said Mr. Carrington warmly, and his square, massive face was growing redder. 

"I daresay, " said Mr. Manley amiably. "But if any one chooses to havethem, and act on them, what are you going to do about it? For example, ifI happened to know who had murdered Lord Loudwater and did not choose totell, how could you make me?"

"If there were many people with such principles about, society wouldsoon find out a way of protecting itself, " said the lawyer, in theaccents of one whose tenderest sensibilities are being outraged. 

"It would have to have recourse to torture then, " said Mr. Manleycheerfully. 

"But let me remind you that it is a crime to be an accessory before, orafter, the fact to murder, " said the lawyer in a tone of some triumph. 

"Oh, I'm not going as far as that, " said Mr. Manley. "A man might verywell approve of a murder without being willing to further it. "

Mr. Flexen laughed and said: "I understand Mr. Manley's pointof view. Sometimes I have felt inclined to be judge as well asinvestigator--especially in the East. "

"And you followed your inclination, " said Mr. Manley with amiablecertainty. 

"Perhaps--perhaps not, " said Mr. Flexen, smiling at him. 

"The war has upset everything. I never heard such ideas before the war, "grumbled the lawyer. 

There was a silence as Holloway brought in the coffee and cigars. 

When he had gone, Mr. Flexen said in an almost fretful tone: "It's anextraordinary thing that Lord Loudwater kept so few papers. "

"I don't know, " said Mr. Manley carelessly. "During the six months I'vebeen here we were never stuck for want of a paper. He seemed to me tohave kept all that were necessary. "

"It's the destroying of his pass-books that seems so odd to me, " saidthe lawyer. "A man must often want to know how he spent his money in agiven year. "

"I'm sure I never want to, " said Mr. Manley. "And certainly pass-booksare unattractive-looking objects to have about. "

"All the same, they might have proved very useful in this case, " said Mr. Flexen. "Of course, they wouldn't tell us anything we shall not find outeventually. But they might have saved us a lot of time and trouble. Theymight put us on to the track of another firm of lawyers who did certainbusiness for Lord Loudwater. "

"Well, no one but Mr. Carrington's firm did any business for him duringthe last six months, " said Mr. Manley, rising. "I feel inclined to takeadvantage of the moonlight and go for a stroll. So I will leave you to goon working on the murder. Good-bye for the present. "

He sauntered out of the room, and when the door closed behind him, thelawyer said earnestly: "I do hate a crank. "

The words came from his heart. 

"Oh, I don't think he's a crank, " said Mr. Flexen in an indulgent tone. "He's too intelligent; that's all. "

"There's nothing so dangerous as too much intelligence. It's always anuisance to other people, " said the lawyer. "Do you think he really knowsanything?"

"He knows something--nothing of real importance, I think, " said Mr. Flexen. "But, as I expect you've noticed, he likes to feel himself ofimportance. And whatever knowledge he has helps him to feel important. It's a harmless hobby. By the way, is there anything in the way ofinsanity in Lady Loudwater's family?"

"No, I never heard of any, and I should have been almost certain to hearif there were any, " said the lawyer in some surprise. 

"That's all right, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"By the way, how did you get on with the newspaper men?" said the lawyer. 

"I put them in the way of making themselves very useful to me, and, atthe same time, I gave them exactly the kind of thing they wanted. Ithink, too, that when they've run the story I gave them for all it'sworth, they'll very likely drop the case--unless, that is, we've reallygot it cleared up. I was careful to point out to them that the verdict ofthe coroner's jury was a piece of pig-headed idiocy, and they'll see theunlikelihood of securing a conviction for murder with the medicalevidence as it is, unless we have an absolutely clear case. "

"But, all the same, there's going to be a tremendous fuss in the papers, "said Mr. Carrington, in the tone of dissatisfaction of the lawyer who isalways doing his best to keep tremendous fusses out of the papers. 

"Oh, yes. That was necessary. It's out of that fuss that I hope to getthe evidence which will settle once and for all, in my mind at any rate, the question whether Lord Loudwater was murdered or not. "

"But surely you haven't any doubt about that?" said the lawyer sharply. 

"Just a trifle, and I may as well get rid of it, " said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley took his hat and stick and went leisurely out of the frontdoor of the Castle. He paused on the steps for half a minute to admirethe moonlit night and murmur a few lines from Keats. Then he strolleddown the drive whistling the tune of an American coon song. But presentlythe whistle died on his lips as he considered Mr. Flexen's keen desire todiscover the other firm of lawyers who had done business for LordLoudwater. He could not but think, when he put this keenness of Mr. Flexen beside Helena's strange anxiety, that she had done something ofwhich she had not told him, something that might have drawn suspicion onher. He did not see what she could have done; but there it was. He had afeeling, an intuition that it was she whom Mr. Flexen was seeking, and heprided himself on his intuition. Well, the longer they were findingShepherd, the lawyer who had handled the business of her allowance, thebetter he would be pleased. He had certainly done his best to block theirway. At the same time, they might at any moment learn who he was. It wasfortunate, therefore, that Shepherd had a job in Mesopotamia, and thathis business was closed down for the present. If they did learn who hewas, they would still be a long while before they obtained anyinformation about Helena from him. Mr. Manley's keen desire was that thefirst excitement about the murder should have died down before they didget it. He was a firm believer in the soothing effect of time. Thediscovery of Helena's allowance, if it were made now, might cause herconsiderable annoyance, if not actual trouble. Coming in six weeks' time, or even a month's time, it would be far less likely to make that trouble. 

He wondered what it could be that she had done to bring herself undersuspicion. Remembering what she had said of her determination to discussthe halving of her allowance with the dead man, and her remark that shehad such a knowledge of his habits that she could make sure of having aninterview with him to discuss it, it seemed not unlikely that she hadgone to see him on the very night of his murder, and that some one hadseen her. If it were so, he hoped that she would tell him, so that theymight together devise some way of preventing harm coming from theaccident that the interview had occurred at such an unfortunate hour. Hefelt sure that he would be able to devise such a way. He never blinkedthe fact of his extreme ingenuity. 

He found her strolling in her garden with the anxious frown which hadawakened his uneasiness, still on her brow. Her face grew brighter at thesight of him, and presently he had smoothed the frown quite away. Againhe realized that the murder of Lord Loudwater had had a softening effecton her. Before it they had been much more on equality; now she ratherclung to him. He found it pleasing, much more the natural attitude of awoman towards a man of his imagination and knowledge of life. He wasproperly gracious and protective with her. 

The next morning the _Daily Wire_ opened his eyes and confirmed hisapprehensions. The murder of a nobleman is an uncommon occurrence, andthe editor of that paper showed every intention of making the most of it. The visit of the unknown woman to Lord Loudwater and their quarrel, treated with the nervous picturesqueness of which Mr. Gregg was so famousa master, formed the main and interesting part of the article. When hecame to the end of it, Mr. Manley whistled ruefully. He had no difficultywhatever in picturing to himself the indignant and violent wrath ofHelena, and he could not conceive for a moment that Lord Loudwater hadbeen able to withstand it. Of course, he would be violent, too, but witha much less impressive violence. 

Lord Loudwater had been lavish in the matter of newspapers; he was a richman, and they had been his only reading. Mr. Manley read the report ofthe inquest in all the chief London dailies, and found in the _DailyPlanet_ another nervously picturesque article on the visit of themysterious woman from the nervously picturesque pen of Mr. Douglas. 

Here was certainly a pretty kettle of fish. He could not doubt that thewoman was Helena. It explained Flexen's questioning him whether he hadany knowledge of an entanglement between Lord Loudwater and a woman, andFlexen's keen desire to find some other firm of lawyers who might havebeen called in to deal with such an entanglement. But he could not for amoment bring himself to believe that there could have ever been any needfor Helena to have recourse to the knife. He could not see LordLoudwater resisting her when she became really angry; he must have givenway. None the less, he did not underestimate the awkwardness, the dangereven, of her having paid that visit and had that quarrel at such anunfortunate hour. 

He had matter enough for earnest thought during the funeral. It was alarge funeral, though there were not many funeral guests. Five ladies, anaunt and four cousins, of Lord Loudwater's own generation, came down fromLondon. The younger generation was either on its way back from the war, or too busy with its work to find the time to attend the funeral of adistant relation, whom, if they had chanced to meet him, they neitherliked nor respected. But there was a show of carriages from all the bighouses within a radius of nine miles, which more than made up for thefewness of the guests. Also, there was a crowd of middle- and lower-classspectators who considered the funeral of a murdered nobleman a spectacleindeed worth attending. It was composed of women, children, old men, anda few wounded private soldiers. 

Olivia attended the funeral, wearing a composed but rather pathetic air, owing to the fact that her brow was most of the time knitted in apondering, troubled frown. Lady Croxley, Lord Loudwater's aged aunt, rodewith her in the first coach. She was a loquacious soul, and whiled awaythe journey to and from the church, which is over a mile from the Castle, with a panegyric on her dead nephew, and an astonished dissertation onthe strange fact that Olivia had not had a woman with her during this sadtime. She ascribed her abstinence from this stimulant to her desire to bealone with her grief. Olivia encouraged her harmless babble by a vaguemurmur at the right points, and continued to look pathetic. It was allher aunt by marriage needed, and it left Olivia free to think her ownthoughts. She gave but few of them to her dead husband; the livingclaimed her attention. 

Mr. Manley wore an air of gloom far deeper than his sense of the fitnessof things would in the ordinary course of events have demanded. It wasthe result of the nervously picturesque English which had flowed withsuch ease from the forceful pens of Mr. Douglas and Mr. Gregg. Mr. Carrington, who rode with him, and from attending the funerals of manyclients had acquired as good a funeral air as any man in his profession, found his gloom exaggerated. He was all the more scandalized, therefore, when, as they were nearing the Castle, Mr. Manley suddenly cried, "ByJove!" and rubbed his hands together with a face uncommonly radiant. 

He had had the cheering thought that he had the Loudwater case, if everit should come to a trial, wholly in his hands. He had but to rememberhaving heard Lord Loudwater snore at, say, a few minutes to twelve, tobreak it down. He did not conceive that he would encounter any difficultyin remembering that if it should be necessary. 

The solemnity of the funeral and Mr. Carrington's conversation in thecoach--he had talked about the weather--had not weakened his resolvethat, if he could help it, no one should swing for the murder. 

This realization of his position of vantage made him eager to go toHelena to set her mind at rest, should she, as he thought most likely, be greatly troubled by the fact that her untimely visit to the murderedman was known. But he had to lunch at the Castle with the funeral guests. They were interested beyond measure in the murder and full of questions. He talked to them with a darkly mysterious air, and made a deepimpression of discreet sagacity on their simple minds. He observed thatOlivia appeared to have been afflicted more deeply by the funeral than hehad expected. She looked harassed and seemed to find the lunch rather astrain. He observed also that she did not, as did her guests, who were soslightly acquainted with him, pay any tribute to the character of herdead husband. 

Mr. Flexen was not lunching with them. He had spent an expectant morningwaiting for the local effects of the story in the _Wire_ and _Planet_, and in having that story spread far and wide by Inspector Perkins and histwo men among the villagers, who only saw a paper in the public-houses ofthe neighbourhood on a Sunday. He hoped, if it had been a local affair, to have information about it in the course of the day. Up to lunchtimethe newspaper advertisement of the mysterious woman had proved asfruitless as the earlier private inquiries. But he remained hopeful. 

It was past three before Mr. Manley escaped from the funeral guests andbetook himself at a brisk pace to Helena's house. As he went he made uphis mind that the quality most fitting the occasion was discretion. Hehad better not let it appear that he was sure that she was the mysteriouswoman of the _Daily Wire. _ He must make his announcement that, in theevent of any one being brought to trial for the murder of Lord Loudwater, his evidence could break down any case for the prosecution, and that hewould see that it did break it down, appear as casual as possible. But, at the same time, he must make it quite clear to her that he could secureher safety. He felt that though she might think his firm resolve that noone should swing for the murder quixotic, she would perceive that it wasonly in keeping with his generous nature. 

He had expected to find her much more disturbed by the nervouslypicturesque articles of Mr. Gregg and Mr. Douglas than she appeared. Indeed, she seemed to him much less under a strain, much less nervousthan she had been the night before. None the less, he was careful toreassure her wholly by the announcement of his discovery of the importantnature of the evidence he could give, before he said anything about thosearticles. When he did tell her that he could break down any case for theprosecution, she did not at once confess that she was the woman of whosevisit to Lord Loudwater those stories told; they did not even discuss thequestion, which had seemed so important to the _Daily Wire_, who thatwoman was. They contented themselves with discussing the question whocould have seen her. He admired her spirit in not telling him, herreadiness to forgo his comfort and support before the absolute need forthem was upon her. Her force of character was what he most admired inher, and this was a striking example of it. His own character, he knew, was rather subtile and delicate than strong. He was more than ever aliveto the advantage of having her to lean upon in the difficult career thatlay before him. 

Mr. Flexen was disappointed that the advertisement of the mysteriouswoman in the _Wire_ and the _Planet_ brought no information about herduring the morning. After lunch Mr. Carrington returned to London. Athalf-past three Mr. Flexen telegraphed to Scotland Yard to ask if any onehad given them information about the woman he was seeking. No one had. Then he realized that he was unreasonably impatient. Whoever had theinformation would probably think the matter over, and perhaps confer withfriends before coming forward. In the meantime, he would make inquiriesof James Hutchings. 

He drove to the gamekeeper's cottage to find James Hutchings sitting on achair outside it and reading the _Planet_. He perceived that he lookedpuzzled. Also, he perceived that he still wore a strained, hunted air, more strained and hunted by far than at their last talk. 

He walked briskly up to him and said: "Good afternoon. I see that you'rereading the story of Lord Loudwater's murder in the _Planet_. It occurredto me that you might very likely be able to tell me who the lady whovisited Lord Loudwater on the night of his murder was. At any rate, youcan probably make a guess at who she was. "

Hutchings shook his head and said gloomily: "No, sir, I can't. Idon't know who it was and I can't guess. I wish I could. I'd tell youlike a shot. "

"That's odd, " said Mr. Flexen, again disappointed. "I should have thoughtit impossible for your master to have been on intimate terms with a ladywithout your coming to hear of it. You've always been his butler. "

"Yes, sir. But this is the kind of thing as a valet gets to know aboutmore than a butler--letters left about, or in pockets, you know, sir. Buthis lordship never could keep a valet long enough for him to learnanything. He was worse with valets than with any one. "

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen in a vexed tone. "But still, I should havethought you'd have heard something from some one, even if the matter hadnot come under your own eyes. Gossip moves pretty widely about thecountryside. "

"Oh, this didn't happen in the country, sir--not in this part of thecountry, anyhow. It must have been a London woman, " said Hutchings withconviction. "If she'd lived about here, I must have heard about it. "

"It was a lady, you must know. The papers do not bring that fact out. Myinformant is quite sure that it was a lady, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"That's no 'elp, sir, " said Hutchings despondently. "She must have comedown by train and gone away by train. "

"She would have probably been noticed at the station. But she wasn't. Besides, she could not have walked back to the station in time to catchthe last train. I'm sure of it. "

"Then she must have come in a car, sir. "

"That is always possible, " said Mr. Flexen. 

There was a pause. 

Then Hutchings burst out: "You may depend on it that she did it, sir. There isn't a shadow of a doubt. You get her and you'll get themurderess. "

He spoke with the feverish, unbalanced vehemence of a man whose nervesare on edge. 

"You think so, do you?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"I'm sure of it--dead certain, " cried Hutchings. 

"It's a long way from visiting a gentleman late at night and quarrellingwith him to murdering him, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"And she went it. You mark my words, sir. She went it. I don't say thatshe came to do it. But she saw that knife lying handy on the librarytable and she did it, " said Hutchings with the same vehemence. 

"Any one who passed through the library would see that knife, " said Mr. Flexen carelessly, but his eyes were very keen on Hutchings' face. 

Hutchings was pale, and he went paler. He tried to stammer something, buthis voice died in his throat. 

"Well, I'm sorry you can't give me any information about this lady. Good afternoon, " said Mr. Flexen, and he turned on his heel and wentback to the car. 

He was impressed by Hutchings' air and manner. Of course, believinghimself to be suspected, the man was under a strain. But would the strainon him be so heavy as it plainly was, if he knew himself to be innocent?And then his eagerness to fasten the crime on the mysterious woman. Ithad been astonishingly intense, almost hysterical. 

When he reached the Castle he found Inspector Perkins awaiting him with asmall package which had come by special messenger from Scotland Yard. Itcontained enlarged photographs of the fingerprints on the handle of theknife. They were all curiously blurred. 

_The murderer had worn a glove. _

CHAPTER XIII

Mr. Flexen studied the photographs and the report which stated this factwith a lively interest and a growing sense of its great importance. Forone thing, it settled the question of suicide for good and all. LordLoudwater had worn no glove. 

Also, it strengthened the case against the mysterious woman. She hadcome, apparently, from a distance, and probably in a motor-car. If shehad driven herself down, she would be wearing gloves. Also, only a womanwould be likely to be wearing gloves on a warm summer night. Indeed, coming from a distance by train, or car, she would certainly wear gloves. She would not dream of coming to an interview, with a man with whom shehad been intimate and whom she wished to bend to her will, with handsdirtied by a journey. 

If that gloved hand had not been the hand of the mysterious woman, thenthe murder had been premeditated, and the murderer or murderess had puton gloves with the deliberate purpose of leaving no finger-prints. 

It _was_ the woman. In all probability it was the woman. 

Then Mr. Flexen's sub-conscious mind began to jog his intellect. Somewhere in his memory there was a fact he had noted about gloves, andthat fact was now important in its bearing on the case. He set abouttrying to recall it to his mind. He was not long about it. Of a sudden heremembered that he had been a trifle surprised to perceive that ColonelGrey had been carrying gloves when he had found him in the rose-gardenwith Lady Loudwater. 

His surprise had passed quickly enough. He had decided that the life inthe trenches had not weakened Colonel Grey's habit, as a fastidious manabout town, of taking care of his hands. He remembered, too, that at hisfirst interview with him he had observed that his hands were uncommonlywell shaped and well kept. 

He did not suppose that Colonel Grey had come to the Castle on thenight of the murder wearing gloves with the deliberate intention ofkilling Lord Loudwater without leaving finger-prints. But suppose that, as he came away from a distressing interview with Lady Loudwater, theknife on the library table had caught his eye and his gloves had beenin his pocket?

Mr. Flexen took out his pipe, lit it, and moved to an easy-chair to lethis brain work more easily. He tabulated his facts. 

Colonel Grey had gone through the library window at about twentyminutes past ten. 

Hutchings had gone through the library window at half-past ten. 

The mysterious woman had gone through the library window at about tenminutes to eleven. 

She came out of the library window at about a quarter-past eleven after aviolent quarrel with Lord Loudwater. 

Colonel Grey came out of the library window at about twenty-five minutespast eleven, after a distressing interview with Lady Loudwater, apparently in a very bad temper. 

James Hutchings had come out of the library window at about half-pasteleven, also, if William Roper might be believed, furious. 

Lady Loudwater had come through the library window at a quarter totwelve, and gone back through it at five minutes to twelve. 

Each of the last three had passed within fifteen feet of Lord Loudwater, dead or alive, both on entering and on coming out of the Castle. Themysterious woman had actually been in the smoking-room with him. 

If Lady Loudwater's statement that she heard her husband snoring at fiveminutes to twelve were to be accepted, neither Colonel Grey, Hutchings, nor the mysterious woman could have committed the murder--unless alwaysone of them had returned later and committed it. That possibility mustbe borne in mind. 

But Mr. Flexen did not accept her statement. If he were to accept it, sheherself at once became the most likely person to have committed thecrime. It was always possible that she had. She certainly had the bestreasons of any one, as far as he knew, for committing it. 

The evidence of Mr. Manley about the time at which he heard LordLoudwater snore was of the first importance. But how to get it out ofhim? Mr. Flexen had a strong feeling that not only would Mr. Manleyafford no help to bring the murderer of Lord Loudwater to justice, but, that owing to the vein of Quixotry in his nature, he was capable ofhelping the murderer to escape. That he could do. He had only to declarethat he heard Lord Loudwater snore at twelve o'clock to break down thecase against any one of the four persons between whom the crime obviouslylay. Mr. Flexen had a shrewd suspicion that Mr. Manley would fail toremember at what time he had last heard Lord Loudwater's snores till thepolice had set about securing the conviction of one of the possiblemurderers. Then, when the case of the police against the murderer wasrevealed, he would come forward and break it down. He had decided thatMr. Manley was a sentimentalist, and he knew well the difficulty ofdealing with sentimentalists. Moreover, Mr. Manley was animated by agrudge against the murdered man. Mr. Flexen could quite conceive that hemight presently be regarding perjury as a duty; he had had experience ofthe queer way in which the mind of the sentimentalist works. 

It appeared to him that everything depended on his finding themysterious woman. 

That afternoon Elizabeth Twitcher determined to go to see JamesHutchings. She had not seen him since their interview on the night of themurder. In the ordinary course she would not have dreamt of going to himafter that interview, for it had left them on such a footing that furtheradvances, repentant advances, must come from him. But there were pressingreasons why she should not wait for him to make the advances which hewould in ordinary circumstances have made after his sulkiness had abated. All her fellow-servants and all the villagers, who were not members ofthe Hutchings family, were assured that he had murdered Lord Loudwater. Three of the maids, who were jealous of her greater prettiness, had withill-dissembled spitefulness congratulated her on having dismissed himbefore the murder; her mother had also congratulated her on that fact. Elizabeth Twitcher was the last girl in the world to desert a man inmisfortune, and, considering James Hutchings' temper, she could onlyconsider the murder a misfortune. Besides, she had been very fond of him;she was very fond of him still, and the fact that he was in greattrouble was making him dearer to her. 

Moreover, every one who spoke to her about him told her that he waslooking miserable beyond words. Her heart went out to him. 

None the less, she did not go to see him without a struggle. She feltthat he ought to come to her. However, her pride had been beaten in thatstruggle by her fondness and her pity--even more by her pity. 

When she knocked at the door of his father's cottage James Hutchingshimself opened it, and his harassed, hang-dog air settled in her mind forgood and all the question of his guilt. She was not daunted; indeed, asudden anger against Lord Loudwater for having brought about his ownmurder flamed up in her. Like every one else who had known him, she couldfeel no pity for him. 

James Hutchings showed no pleasure whatever at the sight of her. Indeed, he scowled at her. 

"Come to gloat over me, have you?" he growled bitterly. 

"Don't be silly!" she said sharply. "What should I want to do a thinglike that for? Is your father in?"

"No; he isn't, " said James Hutchings sulkily, but his eyes gazed ather hungrily. 

He showed no intention of inviting her to enter. Therefore she pushedpast him, walked across the kitchen, sat down in the window-seat, andsurveyed him. 

He shut the door, turned, and gazed at her, scowling uncertainly. 

Then she said gently: "You're looking very poorly, Jim. "

"I didn't think you'd be the one to tell of my being in the Castle thatnight!" he cried bitterly. 

"It wasn't me, " she said quietly. "It was that little beast, JanePittaway. She heard us talking in the drawing-room. "

"Oh, that was it, was it?" he said more gently. Then, scowling again, hecried fiercely:

"I'll wring her neck!"

"That's enough of that!" she said sharply. "You've talked a lot too muchabout wringing people's necks. And a lot of good it's done you. "

"Oh, I know you believe I did it, just like everybody else. But I tellyou I didn't. I swear I didn't!" he cried loudly, with a vehemence whichdid not convince her. 

"Of course you didn't, " she said in a soothing voice. "But what are yougoing to do if they try to make out that you did? What are you going totell them?"

He gazed at her with miserable eyes and said in a miserable voice: "Godknows what I'm to tell them. It isn't a matter of telling them. It's howto make 'em believe it. These people never believe anything; the policenever do. "

She gazed at him thoughtfully, with eyes compassionate and full oftenderness. They were a balm to his unhappy spirit. 

The hardness slowly vanished from his face. It became merely troubled. Hewalked quickly across the room, dropped into the seat beside her and putan arm round her. 

"You're a damned sight too good for me, Lizzie, " he said in a gentlervoice than she had ever heard him use before, and he kissed her. 

"Poor Jim!" she said. And again: "Poor Jim!"

He trembled, breathing quickly, and held her tight. 

After a while he regained control of himself, and sat upright. But hestill held her tightly to him with his right arm. 

They began to discuss his plight and how he might best defend himself. She was fully as fearful as he. But she did not show it. She must cheerhim up, and she kept insisting that the police could not fix the murderon him, that they had nothing to go upon. If they had, they would havealready arrested him. Certainly they knew what the servants and thevillage people were saying. But that was just talk. There wasn't anyevidence; there couldn't be any evidence. 

Her support and encouragement put a new spirit into him. He had been soalone against the world. His own family, though they had loudly andfiercely protested his innocence to their friends and enemies in thevillage, had not expressed this faith in him to him. 

Indeed, his father had expressed their real belief, when he said to himgloomily: "I always told you that damned temper of yours would get youinto trouble, Jim. "

Then Elizabeth gave him his tea. After it they talked calmly with anactual approach to cheerfulness till it was time for her to return to theCastle to dress Olivia's hair for dinner. Then she would have it that heshould escort her back to the Castle. She declared, truly enough, that hewas doing himself no good by moping at the cottage, that people would saythat he dare not show himself. He _must_ hold his head up. 

She insisted also that they should take the long way round, through thevillage; that people should see them together. She insisted that heshould look cheerful, and talk to her all the length of the villagestreet. The looking cheerful helped to lighten his spirit yet more. Asthey went through the village she kept looking up at him in anaffectionate fashion and smiling. 

The village was, indeed, taken aback. It had made up its mind that JamesHutchings was a pariah to be shunned. It was not only taken aback, it wasannoyed. It had no wish that its belief that James Hutchings hadmurdered Lord Loudwater should be in any way unsettled. 

Mrs. Roper, the mother of William Roper and a lifelong enemy of theHutchings family, summed up the feeling of her neighbours about thebehaviour of James Hutchings and Elizabeth. 

"Brazen, I call it, " she said bitterly. 

Before they reached the Castle, Elizabeth had come to feel that duringthe last three days James Hutchings had changed greatly, and for thebetter. She had an odd fancy that murdering his master had improved hischaracter; the fear of the police had softened him. Not once did he tryto domineer over her. That domineering had been the source of their notinfrequent quarrels, for she was not at all of a temper to endure it. 

Olivia and Grey had again spent their afternoon in the pavilion in theEast wood. Their bearing at times had been oddly like that of Elizabethand James Hutchings. Now and again they had lapsed from their absorptionin one another into a like fearfulness. But, unlike Elizabeth and JamesHutchings, neither of them said a word about the murder of LordLoudwater. But both of them seemed a little less under a strain than theyhad been. This new factor of a quarrel with an unknown woman seemed toopen a loophole. Olivia's colouring had lost some of its warmth; thecontours of her face were less rounded. Grey had manifestly taken a stepbackwards in his convalescence; his face was thinner, even a littlehaggard; there was a somewhat strained watchfulness in his eyes. 

They could not tear themselves away from the pavilion till the lastmoment, and he walked back with her as far as the shrubbery on the edgeof the East lawn, and there they parted after she had promised to meethim there that evening at nine. 

As Olivia came into her sitting-room Elizabeth and James Hatchings cameto the back door of the Castle. She did not say good-bye at once; of setpurpose, she lingered talking to him that the other servants mightunderstand clearly that her attitude to him was definitely fixed. 

But at last she held out her hand and said: "I must be getting along toher ladyship, or she'll be waiting for me. "

James Hutchings looked round, considered the coast sufficiently clear, caught her to him, kissed her, and said huskily: "You're just aministering angel, Lizzie, and there's more sense in your little fingerthan in all my fat head. I'm feeling a different man, and I'll baulkthem yet. "

"Of course you will, Jim, " said Elizabeth, and she opened the door. 

"Lord, how I wish I was coming in with you--back in my old place! Ishould be seeing you most of the time, " he said wistfully. 

Elizabeth stopped short, flushing, and looked at him with suddenlyexcited eyes. 

At his words a great thought had come into her mind. 

"Wait a minute, Jim. Wait till I come back, " she said somewhatbreathlessly, and, leaving the door open, she hurried down the passage. 

She hurried up to her room, took off her hat, and hurried to Olivia. Shefound her in her sitting-room looking through an evening paper to learnif any new fact about the murder had come to light. 

"If you please, your ladyship, James Hutchings has come to ask if yourladyship would like him to come back for the time being till you've gotsuited with another butler, " said Elizabeth in a rather breathless voice. 

Olivia looked at Elizabeth's flushed, excited and hopeful face, and smiled. 

"Why, have you and James made it up, Elizabeth?" she said. 

"Yes, m'lady, " said Elizabeth, and the flush deepened in her cheeks. 

"Then go and tell him to come back, by all means, " said Olivia. 

"Thank you, m'lady, " said Elizabeth, in accents of profound gratitude, and she ran out of the room. 

Olivia smiled and then she sighed. It was pleasant to have givenElizabeth such obviously keen pleasure. She never dreamed that Elizabethand James Hutchings were under the same strain of fear and anxiety asshe herself, and that she had given them great help in their trouble, forElizabeth saw that the return of James Hutchings to his situation wouldgive the wagging tongues full pause. 

James Hutchings was dumbfounded on receiving the message. He stared atElizabeth with his mouth open. 

"Be quick, Jim. Get your clothes and be back in time to wait on herladyship at dinner, " said Elizabeth. 

James Hutchings came out of his stupor. 

"Why, L-L-Lizzie, you must let me p-p-put up our b-b-banns tomorrow, " hestammered. 

"Be off!" said Elizabeth, stamping her foot. "We can talk aboutthat later. "

When she came from her bath Olivia sent Elizabeth to tell Holloway thatshe would dine with Mr. Flexen and Mr. Manley that evening. She had asudden desire to see more of Mr. Flexen, to weigh him as an antagonist. 

Mr. Flexen was somewhat surprised to receive the information; then, considering the terms on which Olivia had been with her husband, he foundher action natural enough. After all, she was not a woman of the middleclass, bound to make a pretence of grieving for a wholly unamiable bully. Also, he was pleased: to dine with so charming a creature as Olivia wouldbe pleasant and stimulating. In the course of the evening his wits mightrise to the solution of his problem. Moreover, it would be odd if he didnot gain a further, valuable insight into her character. 

He was yet more surprised to find James Hutchings, still rather pale andhaggard, but quite cool and master of himself, superintending thewaiting of Wilkins and Holloway at dinner. Also, he liked the way inwhich he spoke to Olivia and looked at her. To Mr. Flexen, JamesHutchings had the air of the authentic faithful dog. He was inclined toa better opinion of him. 

Plainly, too, Olivia had learned that tongues were wagging against him, and had taken this way of checking them. It was a generous act. At thesame time, he could very well believe that Olivia might, unconsciously ofcourse, be on the side of the murderer of such a husband. 

Thanks to Mr. Manley's invaluable sense of what was fitting, there was noconstraint about the dinner. He had decided that they were three peopleof the world dining together, and the fact that there had been a murderin the house three days before and a funeral in the morning should not beallowed to impair their proper nonchalance. At the same time, decorummust be preserved; there must be no laughter. 

Accordingly he took the conversation in hand, and kept it in hand. Mr. Flexen was somewhat astonished at the ability with which he did it; nowand again he felt as if, personally, he were performing feats on theloose wire, but that, thanks to Mr. Manley, he was not going to fall off. They talked of the usual subjects on which people who have not a largecircle of common acquaintances fall back. They all three abused thepoliticians with perfect sympathy; they abused the British drama withperfect sympathy; with no less perfect sympathy they abused the Cubistsand the Vorticists and the New Poets. Mr. Flexen had an odd feeling thatthey were behaving with entire naturalness and propriety; that their realinterest was in the politicians, the British drama, the Cubists, theVorticists and the New Poets, and not at all in the fate of the murdererof the late Lord Loudwater. After a while he found himself vyingearnestly with Mr. Manley in an effort to display himself as a man of atleast equal insight and intelligence. 

Olivia did not talk much herself. She never did. But she displayed aquickness of understanding and soundness of judgment which stimulatedthem. All the while she was watching and weighing Mr. Flexen. He neveronce perceived it. Plainly enough, the talk did her good. She had cometo dinner looking, Mr. Flexen thought, rather under the water. Beforelong she was looking, as she had resolved to look, her usual self. When, at a few minutes to nine, she left them, she was looking the mostcharming and sympathetic creature in the world, and, what was more, acreature without a care. 

When the door closed behind her, she seemed to have taken with her a gooddeal of the brightness of the room. Mr. Flexen dropped back into hischair and frowned. In the silence which fell he wondered. Plainly she wasfree enough from care now. 

"But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire--"

Then Mr. Manley said, in a tone almost insolent: "If you think shemurdered that red-eyed bull in a china shop, you're wrong. She didn't. "

Mr. Flexen did not resent his tone. Indeed, before he could speak, itflashed on him that if she had done so, and Justice was depending on himhimself to bring her to it, it was depending on a somewhat frail reed. Heliked Mr. Manley for his readiness to fight for her cause. 

He laughed gently and said: "I wasn't thinking so. I was only wondering. "Then his eyes on Mr. Manley's face turned very keen, and he said: "Ibelieve you know a good deal more about the affair than I do, if youliked to speak. "

It seemed to him that for a moment Mr. Manley's desire to make himselfvalued struggled with his desire to be accurate. 

Then the young man shook his head and said in a tone of surprise: "Butwhat nonsense! You know so much more about it than I do. Why, you musthave all the threads in your hands by now. I never even dreamt of the_Daily Wire's_ mysterious woman. "

"Not quite all--yet. But they're coming all right, " said Mr. Flexen, witha confidence he was far from feeling. 

James Hutchings, coming into the room to fetch cigarettes for Olivia, interrupted them. 

"I'm glad to see you back again, Hutchings, " said Mr. Manley in a tone ofhearty congratulation. "Your going away for a trifle after all the yearsyou've been here was a silly business. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Hutchings gratefully. 

When Hutchings had gone, Mr. Flexen said: "It's all very well yourtalking, but it was you who suggested that Lady Loudwater was a woman ofstrong primitive emotions with a strain of Italian blood in her. "

"I never suggested for a moment that she was a woman of _primitive_emotions, " Mr. Manley protested with some vehemence. 

"But the emotions of all women are primitive, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Not the emotion excited in them by beauty, " said Mr. Manley withchivalrous warmth. "And, hang it all! Does she look like a woman tocommit murder?"

"Not on her own account, certainly, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"And on whose account should she commit murder?" cried Mr. Manley. 

Mr. Flexen shrugged his shoulders. 

"I said you knew ten times as much about the business as I do, " said Mr. Manley in a tone of triumph. 

CHAPTER XIV

Mr. Flexen awoke next morning hopeful of news of the mysterious woman. But the letters addressed to him at the Castle and those brought overfrom the office of the Chief Constable at Low Wycombe brought none. Afterbreakfast, still hopeful, he telephoned to Scotland Yard. No informationhad reached it. 

He perceived clearly that the case was at a deadlock till he had thatinformation. He was sure that it would come sooner or later, possiblyfrom the neighbourhood, more probably from London. It was always possiblethat Mr. Carrington might discover that some other lawyer had handled anentanglement for Lord Loudwater. In the meantime, his work at the Castlewas done. He had exhausted its possibilities. There was no reason why heshould not return to his rooms at Low Wycombe. After having conferredwith Inspector Perkins, he decided to leave one of the two detectives tocontinue making inquiries in the neighbourhood. He told James Hutchingsthat he would like his clothes packed, and went to the rose-garden totaken his leave of Olivia and thank her for her hospitality. 

He found her looking very charming in a light summer frock of white lacewith a few black bows set about it, and he thought that she seemed lessunder a strain than she had seemed the day before. He told her that hewas returning to Low Wycombe; she expressed regret at his going, andthanked him for his efforts to clear up the matter of Lord Loudwater'sdeath. They parted on the friendliest terms. 

As he came away, Mr. Flexen thought it significant that, though she hadthanked him for his efforts, she had made no inquiry about the result ofthem. It might be that she dreaded to hear that they were on the way tobe successful. 

He observed that James Hutchings, who watched over his actualdeparture, seemed less pale and haggard than he had been the nightbefore. He could well believe that he was glad to see him going withouthaving had him arrested. 

As he drove through the park he told himself that Lady Loudwater and Mr. Manley between them would probably break down any case the police mightbring against any one but the mysterious woman, and they might break downthat. For his part, he was not going to give much time or attention to ittill the mysterious woman had been discovered, and he did not think thathe would be urged by Headquarters to do so after he had sent in hisreport, for, mindful of what he had told them of the unsatisfactorynature of Dr. Thornhill's evidence, Mr. Gregg in the _Daily Wire_ andMr. Douglas on the _Daily Planet_ were dealing with the case in ahalf-hearted manner, though they were still clamouring with some vivacityfor the mysterious woman. 

As Mr. Flexen came out of the park gates he met William Roper on the edgeof the West wood, stopped the car, and walked a few yards down the roadto talk to him out of hearing of the chauffeur. 

"I gather that you haven't told any one of what you saw on the night ofLord Loudwater's death; or I should have heard of it, " he said. 

"Not a word, I haven't, " said William Roper. 

"That's good, " said Mr. Flexen in a tone of warm approval. "It mightspoil everything to put people on their guard. "

He was more strongly than ever resolved to prevent, if he could, thegamekeeper from setting afoot a scandal about Lady Loudwater which couldbe of no service to the police or any one else. 

"Everybody says as James Hutchings did it, sir, " said William Roper. 

"H'm! And what do they say about the mysterious lady the papers aretalking about--the lady you saw?"

"Oh, they don't pay no 'eed to 'er--not about 'ere, sir. They know JimHutchings, " said William Roper contemptuously. 

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"'Er ladyship and Colonel Grey, they still spends a lot of their time inthe East wood pavilion. But now 'er ladyship's a widder, it's nobody'sbusiness but their own, I reckon, " said William Roper. 

"Of course not, of course not, " said Mr. Flexen quickly, pleased to findthat the ferret-faced gamekeeper attached so little importance to it. "Isuppose people about here see that. "

"They don't know about it. Nobody knows about it but me, and I don't telleverything I sees unless there's something to be got by it. A stilltongue makes a wise 'ead, I say, " said William Roper, with a somewhatvainglorious air. 

"Quite right--quite right, " said Mr. Flexen heartily. "Many a man'stongue has lost him a good job. "

"You're right there, sir. But not me it won't, " said William Roperwith emphasis. 

"I can see that. You've too much sense. Well, I shall keep in touch withyou, and when the time comes you'll be called on. Drink my health. Goodday, " said Mr. Flexen, giving him half-a-crown. 

He walked back to the car, pleased to have done Olivia the service ofclosing William Roper's mouth, at any rate for a time. He would talk, ofcourse, sooner or later, probably sooner. But he might have closed hismouth for a fortnight. 

William Roper walked on to the village and went into the "Bull and Gate. "The village was simmering in a very lively fashion. The return of JamesHutchings to his situation at the Castle was a fact with which it couldnot grapple easily. It was bewildered and annoyed. 

William Roper had not, as he had assured Mr. Flexen, told what he hadseen on the night of the murder of Lord Loudwater, but he had beendropping hints. He dropped more. He was a supporter of the theory thatJames Hutchings was the murderer because he desired to oust the father ofJames Hutchings from his post as head-gamekeeper. That was the reasonalso of his belief in James Hutchings' guilt. He was beginning to enjoythe interest he awakened as the storehouse of undivulged knowledge. WhenMr. Flexen had supposed that he would remain silent for a fortnight, hehad overestimated both his modesty and his reticence. 

Later in the day the village was further upset by the behaviour of JamesHutchings himself. He came into the "Bull and Gate" with an easy air, showed himself but little more civil than usual, and told the landlordthat he had just arranged that the parson should publish the banns of hismarriage with Elizabeth Twitcher on the following Sunday. The village wasstaggered. This was not the way in which it expected a man who wouldpresently be tried and hanged for murder to behave. 

In all fairness to James Hutchings, it must be said that he would nothave acted with this decision of his own accord. Elizabeth had bidden himto it, urging that a bold front was half the battle. However grave herown doubts of his innocence might be, she was resolved that such doubtsshould, if possible, be banished from the minds of other people. Underher influence he was already becoming his old self as far as looks went. A shade of his usual ruddiness had come back; he was losing hishaggardness. 

With the going of Mr. Flexen there came a lull. His departure was arelief to Olivia, to Colonel Grey, and to James Hutchings. Doubtless hewas still working on the case; but, working at a distance, he seemed lessof a menace. All three of them seemed less under a strain. Olivia andGrey spent their hours together in a less feverish eagerness to make themost of them. 

Even Helena Truslove, when Mr. Manley told her that Mr. Flexen had leftthe Castle, said that she was very pleased to hear it. She looked verypleased. Mr. Manley's sense of what was fitting restrained him fromasking her the reason of this pleasure. He had, indeed, no great desireto hear the reason of it from her own lips. It was enough for him toguess that she was the mysterious woman. He felt no need of her fullconfidence. 

The Castle seemed to be settling down to its old round, the quieter forthe loss of Lord Loudwater. His heir in Mesopotamia had been informed ofhis death by cable. But no cable in reply had come from him. Mr. Manleyremained at the Castle as secretary to Olivia, who was makingpreparations leisurely to leave it and settle down in a flat in London. Colonel Grey was recovering from his wound with a passable quickness. James Hutchings had come to look very much his old self. Thanks to theshock he had had and thanks to Elizabeth, he wore a more subdued air, andwas much more amiable with his fellow-servants. 

The _Daily Wire_, the _Daily Planet_, and the rest of the newspapers hadlet the Loudwater mystery slip quietly out of their columns. Mr. Flexenwas waiting with quiet expectation for information about the unknownwoman. Since the advertisement the papers had given her had failed toproduce that information he had a London detective working on the life inLondon, before his marriage, of the murdered man. Mr. Carrington hadfound nothing among Lord Loudwater's papers in the office of his firm tothrow any light on the matter. 

The chief actors in the affair regarded the quiet turn it had taken witha timorous satisfaction. Not so William Roper; William Roper wasthoroughly dissatisfied. He had been willing enough to hold his tongue, because by so doing his unexpected and damning appearance at the trialwould be the more dramatic and impressive. But he was impatient to makethat appearance, and chafed at the delay. Also, his prestige was waning. The village was losing interest in the mystery, and it no longer lookedto him to drop hints as the holder of the secret. That did not preventhim from dropping them. He would bring up the subject of the murder inorder to drop them. His acquaintances who wished now to talk about otherthings found this practice tiresome. They did not hide this feeling. Matters came to a climax one evening in the bar of the "Bull and Gate. "

William Roper dragged the subject of the murder into a conversation onthe high price of groceries, and then, as usual, hinted at the things hecould say and he would. 

John Pittaway, who had been leading the conversation about the high priceof groceries, turned on him and said with asperity: "I don't believe asthere's anything you can tell us as we don't know, or you'd 'ave told itafore this fast enough, William Roper. "

"That's what I've been thinking this long time, " said old Bob Carter, whohad for over forty years made a point of agreeing with the mostdisagreeable person at the moment in the bar of the "Bull and Gate. "

"Isn't there? You wait an' see. You wait till the trial, " saidWilliam Roper. 

"Trial? There won't be no trial. 'Oo's a goin' to be tried? They ain'tagoin' to try Jim 'Utchings. It's plain that 'er ladyship 'as set 'erface against that. And, wot's more, they can't 'ave much to try 'im on, or they'd 'ave to do it, in spite o' wot she said, " said John Pittaway inyet more disagreeable accents. 

William Roper was very angry. This was not to be borne. Indeed, if JohnPittaway were right, and there was to be no trial, where was hisdramatic and impressive appearance at it? He had better be dramatic andimpressive now. 

"Who said as they were goin' to try Jim 'Utchings? I never did, " hegrowled. "There was other people went to the Castle that night besidesJim 'Utchings, and that mysterierse woman the papers talked about. "

"An' 'ow do you know?" said John Pittaway in a tone of most disagreeableincredulity. 

"I know because I seed 'em, " said William Roper. 

"Saw 'oo?" said John Pittaway. 

Then the whole story he had told Mr. Flexen burst forth from WilliamRoper's overcharged bosom, the story with the embellishments natural tothe lapse of time since its first telling. No less naturally in thecourse of the discussion which followed, he told also the story of theluckless kiss in the East wood, and the landlord pounced on that as thecause of the quarrel between Lord Loudwater and Colonel Grey atBellingham. William Roper supported his contention with an embellishedaccount of the interview with Lord Loudwater in which he had informed himof that kiss. 

It was, indeed, his great hour, not as great as the hour he had promisedhimself at the trial, not so public, but a great hour. 

He left the "Bull and Gate" at closing time that night a man, in theestimation of all there, whose evidence could hang four of hisfellow-creatures, the great man of the village. 

Next morning the village was indeed simmering, and the scandal rose andspread from it like a stench. That very afternoon Mr. Manley heard itfrom Helena Truslove, and the next morning Mr. Flexen received twoanonymous letters conveying the information to him, and suggesting thatColonel Grey and the Lady Loudwater had between them made away with herhusband. It is hard to say whether Mr. Manley or Mr. Flexen was moreannoyed by William Roper's blabbing. 

But there was nothing to be done. The scandal must run its course. Mr. Flexen did not think that it would find its way into the papers, local orLondon. None the less, he was alive to the danger that a sudden heavypressure might be put on the police, and he might be forced to takeill-advised action, start a prosecution which would do Lady Loudwaterinfinite harm, and yet end in a fiasco which would leave the mystery justwhere it was. The one bright spot in the affair was that Lord Loudwaterappeared to have left no friends behind him who would make it theirbusiness to see that he was avenged. As long as that avenging waseverybody's business it was nobody's business. 

Elizabeth Twitcher was no less disturbed than Mr. Flexen. She felt thatOlivia ought to be informed of what was being said that she might be ableto take steps to meet the danger. She took counsel with James Hutchings, who could not help feeling relieved by this diversion of suspicion, andhe agreed with her that Olivia should be informed of the scandal at once. But it was an uncommonly unpleasant task, and she shrank from it. 

Then a happy thought came to James Hutchings, and he said: "Look here:let Mr. Manley do it. He's her ladyship's secretary, and it's the kind ofthing he'll do very well. He's a tactful young fellow. "

"It would be a blessing if he did, " said Elizabeth with a sigh. She paused and added: "You do speak differently about him to whatyou used to. "

"Yes. I made a mistake about him like as I did about some other people, "said James Hutchings, with a rather shame-faced air. "He behaved verywell about seeing me here the night the master was murdered and sayingnothing to the police about it. An' then he congratulated me veryhandsomelike on coming back as butler before Mr. Flexen. "

"He would do it better than I should, " said Elizabeth. 

"Then I'll speak to him about it, " said James Hutchings. 

He paused a while to kiss Elizabeth, then went in search of Mr. Manley. He learned from Holloway that he had come in about twenty minutes earlierand was in his sitting-room. He went to him and found him looking throughthe MS. Of the play he was writing, with an unlighted pipe in his mouth. 

"If you please, sir, I thought I'd better come and tell you that they'resaying in the village that Colonel Grey kissed her ladyship in the Eastwood on the afternoon of his lordship's death, and his lordship wasinformed of it and quarrelled with Colonel Grey and then her ladyship, and she and Colonel Grey made away with his lordship, " said JamesHutchings. 

"I've heard something about it, " said Mr. Manley, frowning, and he strucka match. "Who set this absurd story going?"

"William Roper, one of the under-gamekeepers, sir. "

"William Roper? Ah, I know--a ferret-faced young fellow. "

"Yes, sir. And we was thinking that her ladyship ought to know about itso as she can put a stop to it at once, and you were the proper person totell her, sir, " said James Hutchings. 

On the instant Mr. Manley saw himself discharging this unpleasant butimportant duty with intelligence and tact, and he said readily: "I wasthinking of doing so, and now that I know the lying rascal's name I cando it at once. The sooner this kind of thing is stopped the better. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Hutchings, and with a sigh of relief heleft the room. 

He had reached the top of the stairs when the door of Mr. Manley's roomopened; he appeared on the threshold and said: "Will you send some one totell William Roper to be here at nine o'clock tonight? And it wouldn't bea bad idea to drop a hint to any one you send that William Roper has gothimself into serious trouble. "

Mr. Manley thought quickly. 

"Very good, sir, " said James Hutchings, and he hurried down the stairs. 

Mr. Manley did not see Olivia at once, for she was still in the pavilionin the East wood. But as soon as she returned, he sent a message byHolloway to her, that he wished to see her on important business. Holloway brought word that she would see him at once. 

He found her in her sitting-room, gazing out of the window, and sheturned quickly at his entrance with inquiring eyes. 

"It's a rather unpleasant business, and the sooner it's dealt with thebetter, " said Mr. Manley in a brisk, businesslike voice. "One of theunder-gamekeepers has been spreading a scandalous and lying story aboutyou and Colonel Grey, something about his kissing you in the East wood onthe afternoon of Lord Loudwater's death, and he has gone on to suggest, or assert--I don't know which--that you and Colonel Grey had a hand inLord Loudwater's death. "

The blow she had been expecting had fallen, and Olivia paled and hermouth went dry. 

"Which of the under-gamekeepers is it?" she said calmly but withdifficulty, for her tongue kept sticking to the roof of her mouth. 

"A ferret-faced, rascally-looking fellow, called William Roper, " said Mr. Manley with some heat. Then, to save her the effort of speaking, he wenton: "Of course you'd like him discharged at once. The sooner these peopleunderstand that their excitement about Lord Loudwater's death is notgoing to be held an excuse for telling lying stories the better. You willnot be troubled by any more of them. "

Olivia looked at him with steady eyes. She had recovered herself and wasthinking hard. Mr. Manley's certainty about the right method of dealingwith the matter was catching. It was better to show a bold front and atonce. There was no time to consult Antony Grey. 

"Yes. You're quite right, Mr. Manley. Gentle measures are of no use withthis kind of scandal-monger. William Roper must be discharged at once, "she said quietly. 

"Perhaps you would like me to deal with him? It's rather a business for aman, " Mr. Manley suggested. 

"Yes, if you would, " she said in a grateful tone. 

"I will, as soon as I can get hold of him, " said Mr. Manleycheerfully. "He'll make no more mischief about here, " He went out ofthe room briskly. 

His confidence was heartening. When the door closed behind him Oliviasobbed twice in the reaction from the shock of his announcement. Thenshe recovered herself and went quietly to her bath. She observedElizabeth's sympathetic manner as she dressed her hair. Evidently allthe servants as well as the villagers were talking about her. But forits possible, dangerous consequences, she was indifferent to their talk. She was now wholly absorbed in Grey; he was the only thing of anyimportance in her life. 

Mr. Manley ate his dinner with an excellent appetite. He was pleased withthe brisk, almost brusque, manner in which he had dealt with the matterof William Roper, in his interview with Olivia. If he had shilly-shalliedand hummed and hawed about the scandal, it would have been so much moreunpleasant for her. He thought, too, that his practical, common-senseattitude to the business would probably help her to take it more easily, and he was sure that he had advised the best measure to be taken withWilliam Roper. 

He was smoking a cigar in a great content, when at nine o'clock Hollowaybrought him word that William Roper had come. Mr. Manley bade him bringhim to him at a quarter-past. He felt that suspense would make WilliamRoper malleable, and he intended to hammer him. At thirteen minutes pastnine he composed his face into a dour truculence, an expression to whichthe heavy conformation of the lower part lent itself admirably. 

William Roper, looking uncommonly ill at ease, was ushered in by JamesHutchings himself, and the butler had improved the thirteen shiningminutes he had had with him by increasing to a considerable degree hisuneasiness and anxiety. 

Mr. Manley did not greet William Roper. He stood on the hearth-rug andglowered at him with heavy truculence. William Roper shuffled his feetand fumbled with his cap. 

Then Mr. Manley said: "Her ladyship has been informed that you have beenspreading scandalous reports in the village, and she has instructed me todischarge you at once. " He walked across to the table, took the sheet ofnotepaper on which he had written the amount due to William Roper, dippeda pen in the ink, and added: "Here are your wages up to date, and aweek's wages in lieu of notice. Sign this receipt. "

He dipped a pen in the ink and held it out to William Roper with verymuch the air of Lady Macbeth presenting her husband with the dagger. 

William Roper was stupefied. Mr. Manley, truculent and dramatic, cowed him. 

"I never done nothing, sir, " he said feebly. 

"Sign--at once!" said Mr. Manley, gazing at him with the glare ofthe basilisk. 

"I ain't agoing to sign. I ain't done nothing to be discharged. I ain'tsaid nothing but what I seed with my own eyes, " William Roper protested. 

"Sign!" said Mr. Manley, tapping the receipt like an official in a spyplay. "Sign!"

He was too much for William Roper. The conflict, such as it was, of willsceased abruptly. William Roper signed. 

Mr. Manley pushed the money towards him as towards a loathed pariah. William Roper counted it, and put it in his pocket. He walked towards thedoor with an air of stupefied dejection. 

"Also, you are to be off the estate by twelve o'clock tomorrow. Loudwateris not the place for ungrateful and slanderous rogues, " said Mr. Manley. 

William Roper stopped and turned; his face was working malignantly. 

"We'll see what Mr. Flexen's got to say about this, " he snarled, wentthrough the door, and slammed it behind him. 

CHAPTER XV

Olivia came that night to her tryst with Grey in a great dejection. Sheperceived clearly enough that the instant discharge of William Roperwould not stop the scandal, and she was desperately afraid of the resultsof it. The hope which had sprung up in her mind on reading in the _DailyWire_ the story of her husband's quarrel with an unknown woman died down. This was a far more important matter, and she could not see how thepolice could fail to act on William Roper's story. 

She found Grey waiting for her with his wonted impatience, and presentlytold him about William Roper. 

"This is the very thing I've been fearing, " he said with a suddenheaviness. 

"It will certainly force Mr. Flexen's hand, " she said. 

"I don't know--I don't know, " he said more hopefully. "Flexen struck meas being the kind of man to act just when it suited him, and I expectthat he had known all along anything William Roper had to tell. "

"Yes, he did. Twitcher told me that Roper had an interview with him onthe afternoon after Egbert's death, " she said, catching a little of hishopefulness. 

"Well, if he hasn't done anything about it so far, there's no reason whyhe should act immediately the story becomes common property, " he said ina tone of relief. 

"No--no, " she said slowly. Then she sobbed once and cried: "But, oh, thiswaiting's so dreadful! Never knowing what's going to happen andwhen--feeling that he's lying in wait all the time. "

"It is pretty awful, " he said, drawing her more closely to him andkissing her. 

She clung tightly to him, quivering. 

"The only thing to do is to stick it out, and when the time comes--ifit comes--put up a good fight. I think we shall, " he said in acheering tone. 

"Of course we will, " she said firmly, gave herself a little shake, andrelaxed her grip a little. 

He kissed her again, and they were silent a while, both of themthinking hard. 

Then he said: "Look here: let's get married. "

"Get married?" she said. 

"Yes. The more we belong to one another the better we shall feel. "

"But--but won't there be rather an outcry at our marrying sosoon?" she said. 

"Oh, if people knew of it, yes. But I don't propose that they should. We'll get married quite quietly. I'll get a special licence. The padreof my regiment is in Town, and he'll marry us. I can find a couple ofwitnesses who'll hold their tongues. We can get married in twenty-fourhours. Will you?"

"Yes, " she said firmly. 

His surprise at her ready assent was drowned in the joy it gave him. 

The next morning at half-past nine Mr. Manley rang up Mr. Flexen at hisoffice at Low Wycombe. 

When he heard his voice he said: "Good morning, Flexen. A young fellow ofthe name of William Roper will be calling on you this morning. I expectyou know all he has to say already. But do you see anything to be gainedby his making a pestiferous, scandal-mongering nuisance of himself?"

"I do not. I will say a few kind words to him, " said Mr. Flexen grimly. 

Mr. Manley thanked him and rang off. Then he sent Hutchings down to thevillage to let it be known that any one who let William Roper lodge inhis or her cottage would at once receive notice to quit it. He thought itimprobable, in view of the general unpleasantness of William Roper, thathe would be called on to carry out the threat. 

William Roper had already started to pay his visit to Mr. Flexen. Mr. Flexen kept him dangling his heels in his office for three-quarters of anhour before he saw him. This cold welcome allowed much of WilliamRoper's sense of his great importance in the district to ooze out of him. 

Mr. Flexen emptied him of the rest of it. He greeted him curtly, heardhis story with a deepening frown, and abused him at some length for ababbling idiot, and sent him about his business. William Roper returnedto his mother's cottage to find that her only object in life was to gethim out of her cottage then and there. She had conceived the idea thatthe whole affair was a plot to have a good excuse for giving her noticeto leave that cottage. She knew well that it was the opinion of all itsother inhabitants that the village would be much better without her andthat there were very good grounds for it. 

William Roper perceived with uncommon clearness the truth of Mr. Flexen'sassertion that he was a babbling idiot. His dream of outing WilliamHutchings from the post of head-gamekeeper and filling it himself was forever shattered, and he had been the great man of the village for littlemore than fourteen hours, ten of which he had spent in sleep. He cursedthe hour in which he had espied that luckless kiss, and too lateperceived the folly of a humble gamekeeper's meddling with the affairs ofthose who own the game he keeps. 

The next morning Elizabeth observed that her mistress was anothercreature, almost her old self indeed. The air of strain and oppressionhad, for the time being at any rate, gone from her face. She moved withher old alertness. She even smiled at Elizabeth's strictures on thetreacherous William Roper. 

After breakfast she bade Elizabeth pack a trunk for her, since she wasgoing to London that afternoon and would spend the night, perhaps two orthree days, there. Also, she chose, with frowning thoughtfulness and nolittle changing of mind, the frocks she would take with her, anddiscussed carefully with Elizabeth the changes necessary to give them asufficiently mourning character. 

Elizabeth was indeed pleased with the change in her mistress. Sheascribed it to the influence of Colonel Grey. 

In the afternoon Olivia went to London and drove from Paddington toGrey's flat. She found him awaiting her with the most eager expectation. He had bought the special licence; the chaplain of his regiment and awounded friend were coming at seven o'clock. After they were married, they would all four dine together, and, later, he and she would returnto his flat. 

They had tea, and then he showed her some of the beautiful things, forthe most part ivory and jade, which were his most loved possessions. Sheadmitted frankly that she had to learn to appreciate and admire them asthey deserved. But she was sure that she would learn to do so. 

She found the flat of a somewhat spartan simplicity after LoudwaterCastle, Quainton Hall, and the houses to which she was used. But she alsofound that it had been furnished with a keen regard for comfort. Inparticular, she observed that the easy chairs, which were the chieffurniture of the sitting-room, were the most comfortable she had evertaken her ease in. 

At seven o'clock the padre and Sir Charles Ross, Grey's wounded friend, arrived. After they had talked for a few minutes, making Olivia'sacquaintance, the padre married them. Henderson, Grey's valet, a tall, spare Scot with rugged features who in the course of his seven years'service had acquired, in his manner and way of speaking, a curious andstriking likeness to his master, was the second witness. 

It was wholly characteristic of Olivia that she felt no slightest need ofthe supporting presence of a woman. Yet, for all the unfamiliarsimplicity of the scene, the ceremony did not lack dignity, orimpressiveness. At the end of it Olivia felt herself very much more thewife of Antony Grey than she had ever felt herself the wife of LordLoudwater. 

They dined in a private dining-room at the "Ritz, " and Olivia found thedinner delightful. The three men, after some desultory talk about commonfriends and the ordinary London subjects, fell to talking about theirwork and their fighting in France. She was most pleased by the evidentrespect and admiration with which the other two regarded her husband. Itwas a new experience for her to be married to a man for whom any oneshowed respect. 

At a few minutes past ten she and Grey went home to his flat. Theypreferred to walk. 

Olivia did not return to Loudwater for three days. Grey did not returntill the day after that. Then they again spent much of their time in thepavilion in the East wood, and since Olivia was careful not to replaceWilliam Roper, no one knew of their meetings. Every week they went toLondon for two days. They lived in an absorption in one another whichleft them little time to be troubled by fears of the danger which hungover them. The scandal about them ran the usual nine days' course. Then, since no new development of the Loudwater case arose to give it a fresh, active life, it died down. 

About a fortnight after their marriage Mr. Manley retired from his postof secretary and went to London. A few days later he married HelenaTruslove at the office of a registrar, and they established themselves ina furnished flat at Clarence Gate, while they furnished a flat of theirown. Mr. Manley found himself, under the influence of domesticity, thestimulation of life in London, and the society of the intelligent, writing his new play with all the ease and vigour he had expected. 

Mr. Flexen was beginning, somewhat gloomily, to think it probable thatthe problem of the death of Lord Loudwater would have to be set amongthe unsolved problems which have at different times baffled the police. Then, before he had quite lost hope, there came a letter from Mr. Carrington. It ran:

"Dear Mr. Flexen, "I received this morning a letter from Mrs. Marshall, of 3, LaburnumTerrace, Low Wycombe, asking me, as the agent of the present LordLoudwater, to have some repairs made to the house in which she is hislordship's tenant. We have never handled this property; we did noteven know that it belonged to the late Lord Loudwater. If you can findthe man who managed it for him, he may be able to give you theinformation you want. 

"Yours faithfully, "C. R. W. CARRINGTON. "

In ten minutes Mr. Flexen was at 3, Laburnum Terrace; in a quarter of anhour he had learned that Mrs. Marshall had paid her rent to Mr. Shepherd, of 9, Bolton Street, Low Wycombe; in twenty minutes he had learned fromMrs. Shepherd that her husband was in Mesopotamia, and that she had notheard from him for two months. In half an hour from the time he read Mr. Carrington's letter he was in the train on his way to London. To get intouch with Captain Shepherd in that distant and backward land was amatter for Scotland Yard. No acting Chief Constable would do so withoutconsiderable delay. 

He drafted the telegram in consultation with one of the commissioners, who himself set about the business of getting it through to CaptainShepherd and receiving his answer to it. Then he returned to LowWycombe. Three days later came a letter from Scotland Yard to informhim that Captain Shepherd was in an out-of-the-way district in thenorth of Mesopotamia, and that there must be a delay of days before hereceived the telegram and sent his answer to it. Mr. Flexen possessedhis soul in the patience of a man who was sure that he was going to getwhat he wanted. 

A few days later, on a Saturday, his work took him to Loudwater, and hecalled on Olivia. He found her a different creature. She had lost her airof being under a strain, and save that her eyes were at first anxious, she showed herself wholly at her ease with him. He came away assuringhimself that she was one of the most charming women he had ever met. Hetook it that she still met Colonel Grey in the pavilion in the East wood, and that after a decorous lapse of time they would marry. He thoughtColonel Grey uncommonly fortunate. 

Then he again wondered what had so perturbed them when he had been atthe Castle inquiring into the death of Lord Loudwater. What did they knowof the mystery? What part had they played in it?

Soon after he had left her Olivia went to London to spend the week-endwith her husband. But she did not go in her wonted joyful mood. She triedto thrust it out of her mind; but Mr. Flexen's visit had brought back herold fear. Grey at once perceived that she was not in good spirits, and hewas a little alarmed. He had firmly kept his thought from the dangerwhich still hung over them. Now he caught from her something of heruneasiness. But he would not yield to it, and by the end of dinner hehad, for the while at any rate, banished it from both their minds. 

Then when he awoke that night, quietly, at the turning hour, he heardOlivia crying very softly. 

He put his arm round her and said seriously "What is it, darling? What'sthe matter?"

"Oh, why ever did you kill him?" she wailed. "He--he wasn't worth it. AndI'd have come to you without. And we might have been so happy!"

Grey, with a start, sat bolt upright, and in a tone of the lastastonishment stammered: "K-K-Kill him? Me? B-B-But I thought youk-k-killed him!"

He had never been so taken aback in his life. 

Olivia sat bolt upright in her turn. 

"Me?" she said in an astonishment fully as great as his. "No, I didn't. "

Then with one accord they clung to one another and laughed tremulously inan immeasurable relief. 

Then Olivia said: "And you didn't mind? You married me when you actuallythought I'd murdered Egbert?"

"Oh, Egbert!" said Grey in a tone of contempt which placed the late LordLoudwater definitely as a person the murder of whom was neither here northere. Then he added: "But, hang it all! You married me when you actuallythought I'd murdered him. "

"I thought you did it for my sake, " said Olivia. 

"I thought you did it for mine--to get me out of a mess. Though I'll beshot if I believe I should have cared if you'd done it entirely on yourown account. Not that you could. "

"Oh, Antony, how very fond of one another we must be!" said Olivia in ahushed voice. 

It was after breakfast next morning that Olivia, who stood before thewindow, smoking a cigarette and watching the passers-by, turned and said:"But if neither you nor I murdered Egbert, who did?"

"The mysterious woman, I suppose, " said Grey, with very little show ofinterest in the matter. 

"But I never believed that there was any mysterious woman, I thought thepapers invented her, " said Olivia. 

"So did I, " said Grey. "But it's beginning to look to me as if theremight have been one. "

"I wonder who she can be?" said Olivia. 

"A barmaid, I should think, " said Grey, in a tone which placed definitelythe late Lord Loudwater as a lover. 

"You certainly do dislike Egbert, " said Olivia, in a dispassionate toneof one stating a natural fact of little importance. 

"I do, " said Grey. 

"It's odd how little I remember him, " said Olivia thoughtfully. "But thenI was always trying to forget him unless he was actually in the room withme. And then I was always trying not to see him. "

"I remember the way he treated you, " said Grey sternly. 

Olivia smiled at him. 

"I hope to goodness the police never do find that wretched woman!" hesaid. 

Olivia frowned thoughtfully. Then she smiled again. 

"I don't think it would be much use if they did, " she said. "I told Mr. Flexen that I heard Egbert snoring about twelve o'clock. I didn't; but Ithought that as you went away about half-past eleven, it would make itsafer for you. I could always stick to it, if we thought it right. "

"And I told Flexen that I didn't hear him snoring at about half-pasteleven, and I did. I thought it would make it safer for you. "

"Well, we are--" said Olivia, and she laughed. 

Then of a sudden her eyes sparkled and she cried: "But if you heard himsnore at half-past eleven that lets the mysterious woman out. She wentaway at a quarter-past. "

"By Jove! so it does, " said Grey. 

Three days later, driving back in the evening from Rickmansworth to LowWycombe, Mr. Flexen passed Grey on his way home from an afternoon'sfishing. He stopped the car, and as Grey came up to it he perceived thathe was looking uncommonly well, though his limp appeared to be as bad asever. He was not only looking well, he was also looking happy, whollyfree from care. 

They greeted one another and Mr. Flexen said: "By Jove! you arelooking fit!"

"Yes, I'm all right again, " said Grey. Then he frowned and added: "Butthe nuisance of it is that I shall always have this confounded limp. "

"You get off more lightly than a good many men I know, " saidFlexen sadly. 

"Yes. I'm not grousing much, " said Grey. 

There came a pause, and then Grey said: "I've been rather hoping to comeacross you. When you questioned me about my doings on the night ofLoudwater's death, you asked me whether I heard him snore as I wentthrough the library, going in and out of the Castle, and for reasonswhich seemed quite good to me at the time I told you I didn't. As amatter of fact, he was snoring like a pig when I came out. "

Mr. Flexen looked at him hard, thinking quickly. Then he said softly: "Mygoodness! That would be half-past eleven!"

"Close on it, " said Grey. 

"Well as a matter of fact, I didn't believe you, " said Mr. Flexenfrankly. "In my business, you know, one acquires a very good ear forthe truth. "

Grey laughed cheerfully and said: "I expect you do. "

"All the same, I'm glad to have it for certain, " said Mr. Flexen, smilingat him. "Well, I must be getting on; let me give you a lift as far asLoudwater. "

Grey thanked him and stepped into the car. 

When he had set him down, Mr. Flexen drove on in frowning thought. Colonel Grey was speaking the truth, and in that case neither JamesHutchings nor the mysterious woman had committed the murder, unless theyhad deliberately returned for the purpose. He did not believe that JamesHutchings had returned; he thought it improbable that the mysteriouswoman had returned. 

Even more important was the fact that this admission of Colonel Greyassured him that neither he nor Lady Loudwater had committed the murder. Grey had evidently lied to shield her. He had no less evidently learnedthat she did not need shielding. That admission had not at all simplifiedthe problem. 

The next morning Scotland Yard telegraphed to him the reply to its cableto Captain Shepherd. It ran:

_Loudwater allowed Mrs. Helena Truslove Crest Loudwater six hundred ayear and gave her Crest_. 

He had the mysterious woman at last!

He drove over to the Crest at once and learned from the caretaker thatMrs. Truslove was now living in London in a flat at Clarence Gate. Hecould not get away from his work till the afternoon, and it was pasthalf-past four when he knocked at the door of her flat. 

The maid led him down the passage, opened the door on the right, andannounced him. 

Helena was sitting beside a table on which afternoon tea for two was set. She looked surprised to hear his name. 

"Mrs. Truslove?" he said. 

"I was Mrs. Truslove, " she said, rising and holding out her hand. "Butnow I am Mrs. Manley. You know my husband. He will be so pleased to seeyou again. I'm expecting him every minute. "

Mr. Flexen was for a moment conscious of a slight sensation of vertigo. The mysterious woman was the wife of Herbert Manley!

He could not at once see the bearings of this fact, but ideas, fanciesand suspicions raced one another through his head. 

He checked them and said in a somewhat toneless voice: "I shall bedelighted to see him again. Have you been married long?"

"Rather more than a fortnight. " said Helena. "But do sit down. My husbandwill be so pleased to see you again. He has a great admiration for you. "

Mr. Flexen sat down and unconsciously stared hard at her. Ideas werejostling one another in his head. 

"We won't wait for him. I'll have the tea made at once, " she said, bending forward to press the bell-button. 

"One moment, please, " he said in his crispest, most official voice. "I'vecome to see you on a very important matter. "

"Oh?" she said quickly, frowning. Then she looked at him withsteady eyes. 

"Yes. You know that I am investigating the Loudwater case, and I havereceived information that you are the mysterious lady who visited LordLoudwater on the night of his death and had a violent quarrel with him. "

"We began by quarrelling, " she said quietly. 

"_Began_ by quarrelling?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Yes. I'd better tell you the whole story, and you'll understand, " shesaid in a matter-of-fact voice. "Rather more than two years ago I wasengaged to be married to Lord Loudwater. He broke off our engagement andmarried Miss Quainton. I was not going to stand that, and I was going tobring a breach of promise action against him. He didn't want that, ofcourse. It would most likely have stopped his marrying Miss Quainton. Sohe agreed to make over the Crest, my house just beyond Loudwater, to me, and pay me an allowance of six hundred a year. "

"This was two years ago?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Yes, " said Helena. "But stupidly, though I had the house properly madeover to me, I didn't have a deed about the allowance. And a few daysbefore he committed suicide--"

"Committed suicide?" Mr. Flexen interrupted. 

"Of course he committed suicide. Didn't Dr. Thornhill say that the woundmight have been self-inflicted? Besides, poor Egbert had a mostfrightful temper. "

"But why should he commit suicide?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"He may have been upset about Lady Loudwater and Colonel Grey. Why, I'mquite sure that it would drive him mad--absolutely mad for the timebeing. I know him well enough to be sure of that. "

"Yes--yes, " said Mr. Flexen slowly. "It's a tenable theory, doubtless. But about your quarrel with him. "

"A few days before he died he talked about halving my allowance. And, ofcourse, I was frightfully annoyed about it. I wanted to have it out withhim--I meant to--but I knew that he'd never let me get near him, if hecould help it. But I knew, too, that he sat in the smoking-room everyevening after dinner, and generally went to sleep. You know everythingabout every one in the country, you know. And I determined to take him bysurprise, and I did. We did have a row, for I was frightfully angry. Itseemed so mean. But he stopped it by telling me that he had instructedhis bankers--we have the same bankers--to pay twelve thousand pounds intomy account instead of allowing me six hundred a year. "

There was just the faintest change in her voice as she spoke the lastsentence, and it did not escape Mr. Flexen's sensitive ear. He thoughtthat the whole story had been rehearsed; it sounded so. But she spoke thelast sentence just a little more quickly. The rest of the story rangtrue, or, at any rate, truer. 

"Twelve thousand pounds, " he said slowly. "And did Lord Loudwater tellyou when he instructed his bankers?"

"No. But it must have been that very day. The letter must have been inthe post, in fact, for two mornings later I received a letter from thebank telling me that they had credited me with that amount--the morningafter the inquest, I think it was. "

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen, and he paused, considering the story. Then hesaid: "And were you surprised at all at his doing this?"

"Yes, I was, " she said frankly. "It didn't seem like him. But since I'vewondered whether he had made up his mind to commit suicide and wished toleave things quite straight. "

It was a plausible theory, but Mr. Flexen did not believe that LordLoudwater had committed suicide. 

"I suppose that your husband knows all about it?" he said at random. 

"He may, and he may not. He hasn't said anything to me about it, " shesaid. 

"Then we may take it that he did not write the letter of instruction tothe bankers, " said Mr. Flexen. 

Oh, he might have done and still have said nothing about it. He has avery sensitive delicacy and might have thought it my business and nothis. I haven't told him about the twelve thousand pounds yet. I don'tbother him about business matters. In fact, I'm going to manage hisbusiness as well as my own. "

"And he didn't know about the allowance?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"Oh, yes, he did. I told him all about that, " said Helena quickly. 

Mr. Flexen paused, considering. He seemed to have learnt from her all shehad to tell. 

There came the sound of the opening of the door of the flat and of stepsin the hall. Then the door of the room opened, and Mr. Manley came in. Mr. Flexen's eyes swept over him. He was looking cheerful, prosperous, and rather sleek. His air had grown even more important and assured. 

He greeted Mr. Flexen warmly and beamed on him. Then he demanded tea. ButMr. Flexen rose, declared that he must be going, and in spite of Mr. Manley's protests went. It had flashed on him that he might just catchMr. Carrington at his office. 

CHAPTER XVI

Mr. Flexen did find Mr. Carrington at his office, and Mr. Carrington'sfirst words were:

"Well, have you found the mysterious woman?"

"I've found the mysterious woman, and she's now Mrs. Herbert Manley, "said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Carrington stared at him, then he said softly: "Well, I'm damned!"

"It does explain several things, " said Mr. Flexen dryly. "We know now whyshe was so hard to find--why there was no trace of her relations withLord Loudwater, no trace of Shepherd's managing the Low Wycombe propertyamong his papers, why there were no pass-books. "

Mr. Carrington flushed and said: "The young scoundrel had us on toast allthe while. "

"Toast is the word, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"I never did like the beggar. I couldn't stand his infernal manner. Butit never occurred to me that he was a bad hat. I merely thought him apretentious young ass who didn't know his place, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"I'm not so sure about the ass, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"No--perhaps not. He certainly brought it off for a time, and shieldedher as long as it lasted, " said Mr. Carrington slowly. 

"She didn't need any shielding, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Do you mean to tell me that she didn't murder Loudwater?"

"She did not. You don't murder a man who has just given you twelvethousand pounds, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Twelve thousand pounds?" said Mr. Carrington slowly. Then he startedfrom his chair and almost howled: "Are you telling me that Lord Loudwatergave this woman twelve thousand pounds! He never gave any one twelvethousand pounds! He never gave any one a thousand pounds! He never gaveany one fifty pounds! He couldn't have done it! Never in his life!"

His voice rose in a fine crescendo. 

"Well, perhaps it was hardly a gift, " said Mr. Flexen, and he told himHelena's story. 

At the end of it Mr. Carrington said with dogged, sullen conviction: "Idon't care, I don't believe it. Lord Loudwater couldn't have done it. "

"But there's the letter from her bankers, " said Mr. Flexen. "And Isuppose you can trace the twelve thousand pounds. "

Mr. Carrington started and said sharply: "Why, that must be where therubber shares went to. "

"What rubber shares?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"We can't lay our hands on a block of rubber shares Lord Loudwater owned. The certificate isn't among his scrip--he kept all his scrip at theCastle--he wouldn't keep it at his bank. Those rubber shares were worthjust about twelve thousand pounds. "

"Well, there you are, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"No, I'm not, I tell you I don't believe in that gift--not even in thecircumstances. Lord Loudwater would a thousand times rather have gone onpaying the allowance--as little of it as he could. There's somethingfishy--very fishy--about it, I tell you, " said Mr. Carrington vehemently. 

"And where did the fishiness come in?" said Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Carrington was silent, frowning. Then he said: "I'll--I'll be hangedif I can see. "

Mr. Flexen rose sharply and said: "There's only one point in the affairwhere it could have come in as far as I can see. I should like to examineLord Loudwater's letter of instruction to his bankers. "

"By George! You've got it, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"Well, can we get a look at it?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"We can. Harrison, the manager, will stretch a point for me. He knowsthat I'm quite safe. Come along, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"At this hour? The bank's been closed this two hours, " said Flexen. 

"He'll be there. It's years since he got away before seven, " said Mr. Carrington confidently. 

He told a clerk to telephone to the bank that he was coming. They found ataxicab quickly, drove to the bank, entered it by the side door, and weretaken straight to Mr. Harrison. 

He made no bones about showing them Lord Loudwater's letter ofinstructions with regard to the twelve thousand pounds. Mr. Carringtonand Mr. Flexen read it together. It was quite short, and ran:

"GENTLEMEN, "I shall be much obliged by your paying the enclosed cheque from Messrs. Hanbury and Johnson for £12, 046 into the account of Mrs. Helena Truslove. 

"Yours faithfully, "LOUDWATER. "

"Rather a curt way of disposing of such a large sum, " said Mr. Flexen, taking the letter and going to the window. 

"It was the way Lord Loudwater did things, " said Mr. Harrison. 

"Yes, yes; I know, " said Mr. Carrington. "Some things. "

They both looked at Mr. Flexen, who was examining the letter through amagnifying glass. 

He studied it for a good two minutes, turned to them with a quiet smileof triumph on his face and said: "I've never seen Lord Loudwater'ssignature. But this is a forgery. "

"A forgery?" said the manager sharply, stepping quickly towards Mr. Flexen with outstretched hand. 

"I'm not surprised to hear it, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"Well, the signature is not written with the natural ease with which aman signs his name, " said Mr. Flexen, giving the letter to Mr. Harrison. 

Mr. Harrison studied it carefully. Then he pressed a button on his deskand bade the clerk who came bring all the letters they had receivedfrom Lord Loudwater during the last three months of his life and bringthem quickly. 

Then he turned to Mr. Flexen and said stiffly: "I'm bound to say that thesignature looks perfectly right to me. "

"I've no doubt that it's a good forgery. It was done by a very cleverman, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"A first-class young scoundrel, " Mr. Carrington amended. 

"We shall soon see, " said Mr. Harrison, politely incredulous. 

The clerk came with the letters. There were eight of them, all writtenby Mr. Manley and signed by Lord Loudwater. 

The manager compared the signatures of every one of them with thesignature in question, using a magnifying glass which lay on his desk. 

Then, triumphant in his turn, he said curtly: "It's no forgery. "

"Allow me, " said Mr. Flexen, and in his turn he compared the signatures, again every one of them. 

Then he said: "As I said, it's an uncommonly good forgery. You see thatthe bodies of the letters are all written with the same pen, agold-nibbed fountain-pen; the signatures are written with a steel nib. Itcuts deeper into the paper, and the ink doesn't flow off it so evenly. The forged signature is written with the same kind of nib as the genuineones. Also, the bodies of the letters are written in a fountain-penink--the 'Swan, ' I think. The signatures are written in Stephens'blue-black ink. The forged signature is also written in Stephens'blue-black ink. No error there, you see. "

"You seem to know a good deal about these things, " said Mr. Harrison, rather tartly. 

"Yes. I've been a partner in Punchard's Agency--you know it; we've donesome work for you--for the last two years. I didn't need this kind ofknowledge for my work in India. I only made a special study of forgeryafter joining the agency. A private inquiry agency gets such a lot ofit, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Well, and if there's an error in these details, where is it? It's not inthe signature itself, " said Mr. Harrison. 

"Indeed, it is, " said Mr. Flexen. "It's an uncommonly good signature too. The 'Loud' is perfect. But the 'water' gives it away. The forger hadevidently practised it a lot. In fact, he wrote the 'Loud' straight off. But the 'water' has no less than five distinct pauses in it--under themicroscope, of course--where he paused to think, or perhaps to look at agenuine signature, the endorsement on the cheque very likely. "

Mr. Harrison sniffed ever so faintly, and said: "Of course, I've hadexperience of handwriting experts--not very much, thank goodness!--andyou differ among yourselves so. It's any odds that another expert willfind those pauses in quite different places from you, or even nopauses at all. "

Mr. Flexen laughed gently and said: "Perhaps. But he ought not to. "

"There you are. And when it comes to a jury, " said Mr. Harrison, and hethrew out his hands. "Besides, if you got your experts to agree, you'dhave to show a very strong motive. "

"Oh, we've got that--we've got that, " said Mr. Carrington withconviction. 

"Well, of course that will make it easier for you to get the jury tobelieve your handwriting experts rather than those of the other side, "said Mr. Harrison, without any enthusiasm. Then he added, with rathermore cheerfulness: "But you never can tell with a jury. "

"No; that's true, " said Mr. Flexen quickly. "I'm sure we're very muchobliged to you for showing us the letter. "

There was nothing more to be done at the bank, and having again thankedMr. Harrison, they took their leave of him. He showed no great cordialityin his leave-taking, he was looking at the matter from the point of viewof the bank. The bank preferred to detect forgeries itself--in time. 

As they came into the street, Mr. Carrington rubbed his hands togetherand said in a tone of deep satisfaction: "And now for the warrant. "

"Warrant for whom?" said Mr. Flexen in a tone of polite inquiry. 

"Manley. The sooner that young scoundrel is in gaol the better I shallfeel, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"So should I, " said Mr. Flexen. "But I'm very much afraid that for Mr. Manley it's a far cry to Holloway. We have no case against himwhatever--not a scrap of a case that I can see. "

"Hang it all! It's as plain as a pikestaff! He's engaged to thiswoman--this Mrs. Truslove--who has a nice little income. He hears thather income is to be halved; and we know that if an allowance begins bybeing halved, as likely as not it will be stopped altogether before long. He saw that clearly enough. Then in the very nick of time this chequecomes along. He sends it to the bank with this letter of instructions, and murders Lord Loudwater so that he cannot disavow them. What more of acase do you want?"

"I don't want a better case. I only want some evidence. It's true enoughthat Mrs. Manley told me that she told Manley that Lord Loudwaterproposed to halve her allowance. But where's the evidence that she talkedto him about it? She'd deny it if you put her into the witness-box, andyou can't put her into the witness-box. "

"Husband and wife, by Jove! Oh, the clever young scoundrel!" cried Mr. Carrington. 

"And that halving of the allowance is the beginning of the wholebusiness. Manley had made up his mind to marry a lady with a fixedincome--indeed, they were probably already engaged. Loudwater upsets thearrangement. Manley restores the _status quo_ by means of this cheque andthe murder of Loudwater. Of course, he hated Loudwater--he admitted asmuch to me--more than once. But if Loudwater had played fair about thatallowance, he'd be alive now. Having established the _status quo, _ Manleypromptly marries the lady, and closes the mouth of the only person whocan bear witness that the allowance was in danger and he had any motivefor murdering Loudwater. "

Mr. Carrington ground his teeth and murmured: "The infernal youngscoundrel!" Then he broke out violently: "But we're not beaten yet. Nowthat we know for a fact that he murdered Loudwater and why, there must besome way of getting at him. "

"I very much doubt it, " said Flexen sadly. "He's an uncommonly ablefellow. I don't believe that he's taken a chance. He wears a glove andleaves the knife in the wound, so that there are no bloodstains. Andconsider the cheque. The bank wouldn't have honoured Loudwater's owncheque, the cheque of a dead man, but the stock-broker's cheque goesthrough as a matter of course. "

"Of course, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"And he has kept the business so entirely in his own hands. If we had runin any one else, he'd have come forward and sworn that he heard Loudwatersnore after Roper had seen that person leave the Castle. I'm beginning tothink that he's one of the most able murderers I ever heard of. Icertainly never came across one in my own experience who was a patch onhim, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"Don't be in such a hurry to lose hope. There must be some way of gettingat him--there must be, " said Mr. Carrington obstinately. 

"I'm glad to hear it, " said Mr. Flexen in a tone of utter scepticism. 

They walked on, Mr. Flexen reflecting on Mr. Manley's ability, Mr. Carrington cudgelling his brains for a method of bringing his crime hometo him. At the door of his office Mr. Flexen held out his hand. 

"Come along in. I've got an idea, " said Mr. Carrington. 

CHAPTER XVII

Mr. Flexen shrugged his shoulders with a sceptical air. He had not formeda high opinion of Mr. Carrington's intelligence. However, he followed himinto his office and sat down, ready to give him his best attention. 

Mr. Carrington wore a really hopeful expression, and he said: "My idea isthat we should get at Manley through Mrs. Manley. "

"I'm not at all keen on getting at a man through his wife, " said Mr. Flexen rather dolefully. "But in this case it's manifestly our duty toleave nothing untried. Murder for money is murder for money. "

"I should think it _was_ our duty!" cried Mr. Carrington with emphasis. 

"And there are three innocent people under suspicion of having committedthe murder. Fire away. How is it to be done?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"The new Lord Loudwater must bring an action against Mrs. Manley for thereturn of that twelve thousand pounds on the ground that it was obtainedfrom the late Lord Loudwater by fraud--as it certainly was, " said Mr. Carrington, leaning forward with shining eyes and speaking verydistinctly. 

"I see, " said Mr. Flexen. But his expression was not hopeful. 

"Once we get her in the witness-box we establish the fact that LordLoudwater had made up his mind to halve her allowance, for she'll have togive the reason for her visiting him so late that night; and so we getManley's motive for committing the murder also established. "

"I see. But will you be able to use her evidence in the first trial atthe second?" said Mr. Flexen doubtfully. 

"That's the idea, " said Mr. Carrington triumphantly. 

"You think it can be worked?"

"We can have a jolly good try at it, " said Mr. Carrington, rubbing hishands together, and his square, massive face was rather malignant inits triumph. 

Mr. Flexen did not look triumphant, or even hopeful. 

"But will you get the new Lord Loudwater to bring this action?" he said. 

"Why, of course. There's the money for one thing, and when he sees howimportant it is from the point of view of getting at Manley, he can'trefuse, " said Mr. Carrington confidently. 

"There isn't the money--not necessarily. He might get back the twelvethousand pounds and have to pay Mrs. Manley six hundred a year for fortyor fifty years. She's a healthy-looking woman, " said Mr. Flexen. "I takeit that the late Lord Loudwater had property of his own against which shecould claim. "

"Oh, of course, she could do that, " said Mr. Carrington, and there wassome diminution of the triumphant expression. 

"She would, " said Mr. Flexen. "Then you'll have to get over his objectionto incurring a considerable amount of odium. It will look bad for a manof his wealth to try to recover from a lady a sum of money to which everyone will consider her entitled. "

"Oh, but it was obtained by fraud, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"If you were sure of proving that, it would make a difference in the waypeople would regard it. But you're not sure of proving it--not by a longchalk. And you can't assure your client that you are. There'll be a lotof conflicting evidence about that signature, as Harrison pretty clearlyshowed. If you don't prove it, your client will be landed with the costsof the case and incur still greater odium. "

"Ah, but he is bound to take the risk to bring his cousin's murderer tojustice, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"Is he?" said Flexen dryly. "What kind of terms was he on with hismurdered cousin?"

"Well, I must say I didn't expect you to ask that question, " said Mr. Carrington pettishly. "What kind of terms was the late Lord Loudwaterlikely to be on with his heir? They hated one another like poison. "

"I thought as much, " said Mr. Flexen. "And what kind of a man is the newman--anything like his dead cousin?"

"Oh, well, all the Loudwaters are pretty much of a muchness. But thepresent man is a better man all round--better manners and betterbrains, " said Mr. Carrington. 

"Better brains, and you think he'll be willing to celebrate hissuccession to the peerage by a first-class scandal of this kind, ascandal which may bring him this money, but which will certainly bringodium on him?" said Mr. Flexen. 

"When it's a case of bringing a murderer to justice, " said Mr. Carringtonobstinately. 

"The murderer of a man he hated like poison? I should think that he'dwant to see his way pretty clear. And it isn't clear--not by any means. For there's precious little chance of Mrs. Manley's giving LordLoudwater's threat to halve her allowance as the reason of her visit tohim that night. In fact, there's no chance at all. Manley will see tothat. Once attack the genuineness of that signature, and you open hiseyes to his danger. She'll come into the witness-box with quite anotherreason for that visit, and a good reason too. Manley will find it forher, " said Mr. Flexen with conviction. "But there's the quarrel. Shecan't get over that quarrel, " said Mr. Carrington stubbornly. 

"She'll deny the quarrel. It's only Mrs. Carruthers' word against hers. Besides, Mrs. Carruthers heard what she did hear through a closed door. It will be so easy to make out that she made a mistake. "

"You seem to take it for granted that Mrs. Manley will commit perjury atthat young scoundrel's bidding, " snapped Mr. Carrington. 

"I take it for granted that she'll be a woman fighting to save herhusband. And I'm also sure that there'll be precious few mistakes intactics made in the fight. I think that all you'll get out of the trialwill be a strong presumption that Lord Loudwater committed suicide. I'dbet that that is the line Manley will take. And she'll make a thunderinggood witness for him. She's a good-looking woman, with plenty ofintelligence. "

Mr. Carrington gazed at him with unhappy eyes. His square, massive facehad lost utterly its expression of triumph. 

"But hang it all!" he cried. "What are we going to do? Knowing what weknow, we can't sit still and do nothing. "

"I can't see _anything_ we can do, " said Mr. Flexen frankly, and he rose. "You have demonstrated that Manley's position is impregnable. "

He took his leave of the dejected lawyer. 

Outside Mr. Carrington's office he stood still, hesitating. He could havecaught a train back to Low Wycombe, but he could not bring himself totake it. He could not at once tear himself away from London and Mr. Manley. He must sleep on the new facts in the Loudwater case. He went tohis club, engaged a bedroom, and dined there. 

Mr. And Mrs. Manley dined at their flat. Mr. Manley talked during dinnerwith elegance and vivacity. The maid brought in the coffee and went backto the kitchen. 

As he lighted his wife's cigarette, Mr. Manley said in a careless tone:"What did Flexen want to see you about?"

Helena gave him a full account of her interview with Mr. Flexen, hisquestions and her answers. 

"I guessed that you were the _Daily Wire's_ mysterious woman, " he said. "I saw how frightened you were when it came out. But, of course, as youdidn't say anything about it, I didn't. "

"That is so like you, " she murmured. 

"One human being should never intrude on another, " said Mr. Manley with anoble air. 

"It might be your motto, " she said, looking at him with admiring eyes. She paused; then she added: "And I was frightened--horribly frightened. Icouldn't sleep. I was going to tell you about it, but I didn't like to. You gave me no opening. Then the letter came from my bankers--about thetwelve thousand pounds--and it made it all right. It made it clear that Ihad no reason to murder Loudwater. "

"Of course, " said Mr. Manley. "But in the event of any newdevelopments, I should not admit that Lord Loudwater talked of halvingyour allowance, or that you quarrelled with him. In fact, I shouldn'tlet Flexen interview you again at all. In an affair of this kind youcan't be ton careful. "

"I won't let him interview me again, " said Helena with decision. 

Mr. Flexen did not try to interview her again. But at eleven the nextmorning he called on Mr. Manley. He had very little hope of effectinganything by the call, though he meant to try. But he had the keenestdesire to scrutinize him again and carefully in the light of the newfacts he had discovered. 

Mr. Manley kept him waiting awhile in the drawing-room; then the maidushered him into Mr. Manley's study. Mr. Manley was sitting at atable, at work on his play. He greeted Mr. Flexen with a ratherabsent-minded air. 

Mr. Flexen surveyed him with very intent, measuring eyes. At once heperceived that he had rather missed Mr. Manley's jaw in giving attentionto his admirable forehead. It was, indeed, the jaw of a brute. He couldsee him drive the knife into Lord Loudwater, and walk out of thesmoking-room with an ugly, contented smile on his face. 

He had little hopes of bringing off anything in the nature of a bluff;but he said, in a rasping tone: "We've discovered that the signature ofLord Loudwater's letter of instructions to his bankers to pay that chequefor twelve thousand pounds into your wife's account was forged. "

Mr. Manley looked at him blankly for a moment. There was no expression atall on his face. Then it filled slowly with an expression of surprise. 

"Rehearsed, by Jove!" murmured Mr. Flexen under his breath, and he couldnot help admiring the skilful management of that expression of surprise. It was so unhasty and natural. 

"My dear fellow, what on earth are you driving at? I saw him write itmyself, " said Mr. Manley in an indulgent tone. 

"You forged it, " snapped Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley looked at him with a new surprise which changed slowly topity. Then he said in such a tone as one might use to an unreasonablechild: "My good chap, what on earth should I forge it _for?_"

"You knew that he was going to halve Mrs. Truslove's allowance. You werebent on marrying a woman with money. You took this way of ensuring thatshe had money, forged the letter, and murdered Lord Loudwater, " said Mr. Flexen on a rising inflexion. 

"By Jove! I see what you're after. It shows how infernally silly aschoolboy joke can be! Lord Loudwater never talked of halving my wife'sallowance. That was an invention of mine. I told her that he was doing sojust to tease her, " said Mr. Manley firmly, with a note of contrition inhis voice. 

Mr. Flexen opened his mouth a little way. It was a superb invention. Itleft Mrs. Manley free to go into the witness-box to tell the story shehad told him. It knocked the bottom clean out of Carrington's case. 

"What really happened was that Lord Loudwater was grousing about theallowance--at being reminded every six months that he had behaved like acad. I suggested that he should pay her a lump sum and be done with thebusiness. He jumped at the idea. The cheque had come from hisstockbrokers that morning; he directed me to write that letter ofinstructions to his bankers; I wrote it, and he signed it. There you havethe whole business. "

"I don't believe a word of it!" cried Mr. Flexen. 

Mr. Manley rose with an air of great dignity and said: "My good chap, Ican excuse your temper. It was an ingenious theory, and it must be veryannoying to have it upset. But I'm fed up with this Loudwater business. I've got here"--he tapped the manuscript on the table--"a drama worthfifty of it. Out of working hours I don't mind talking that affair overwith you; in them I won't. "

Mr. Flexen rose and said: "You're undoubtedly the most accomplishedscoundrel I've ever come across. "

"If you will have it so, " said Mr. Manley patiently. Then he smiled andadded: "Praise from an expert--"

They turned to see Mrs. Manley standing in the doorway, her lips parted, her eyes dilated in a growing consternation. 

She stepped forward. Mr. Flexen slipped round her and fairly fled. 

She looked at Mr. Manley with horror-stricken eyes and said: "What--whatdid he mean, Herbert?"

"He meant what he said. But what it really means is that I won't let himhang that wretched James Hutchings, " said Mr. Manley with a noble air. 

 * * * * *

Three months later, on the first night of Mr. Manley's play, ColonelGrey came upon Mr. Flexen in the lounge of the Haymarket, between thesecond and third acts. Both of them praised the play warmly, and therecame a pause. 

Then Colonel Grey said: "I suppose you've given up all hope of solvingthe problem of Loudwater's death. "

"Oh, I solved it three months ago. It was Manley, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"By Jove!" said Colonel Grey softly. 

"Not a doubt of it. I'll tell you all about it one of these days, "said Mr. Flexen, for the bell rang to warn them that the third act wasabout to begin. 

In the corridor Colonel Grey said: "Queer that he should have droppeddown dead in the street a week before this success. "

"Well, he was discharged from the Army for having a bad heart. But it isa bit queer, " said Mr. Flexen. 

"The mills of God, " said Colonel Grey. 

"Looks like it, " said Mr. Flexen.