Mensmore bowed silently and would have left the room, but Smith entered. In their distraction they had not heard the bell ring. Smith handed a card to his master. Instantly Bruce controlled himself. His admiration for the dramatic sequence of events overcame his eagerness as an actor. It was with an appreciative smile that he said, without the slightest reference to Mensmore: "Show the lady in." Mensmore was passing out, but the sight of the visitor drove him back as though he had been struck. It was Phyllis Browne. Her recognition of him was a bright smile. She advanced to Bruce, saying pleasantly: "I am glad to meet you, though the manner of my call is somewhat unconventional. I heard much of you from Bertie in the Riviera, and more since my return to town." He suitably expressed his delight at this apparition. Mensmore, not knowing what to do, stood awkwardly at the other end of the room. Neither of the others paid the least heed to him. "Of course I had a definite object in coming to see you, Mr. Bruce," went on the young lady. "I have been coolly told that, because somebody killed somebody else some months ago, a young gentlemen who asked me to be his wife, is not only not going to marry me but intends to spend the rest of his life in Central Africa or China--anywhere in fact but where I may be." "A most unwise resolve," said the barrister. "So I thought. You appear to hold the key to the situation; and, as it is an easy matter to trace you through the Directory, here I am. My people think I am skating at St. James's." "Well, Miss Browne," said Claude, "I am neither judge nor jury nor counsel for the prosecution, but there is the culprit. I hand him over to you." "Yes; but that goose didn't kill anybody, did he?" "No." "And I am sure his sister did not; from what little I saw of her she would not hurt a fly." "Quite true." "Then why don't you find the man who caused all the mischief--and--and--lock him up at least, so that he cannot go on injuring people?" Miss Phyllis was very brave and self-confident at the outset. Now she was on the verge of tears, for Mensmore's saddened face and depressed manner unnerved her more than his passionate words at their last interview. "You ask me a straight question," replied Bruce, though his eyes were fixed on Mensmore, "and I will give you a straight answer. I _will_ find the man who killed Lady Dyke. As you say, it is time his capacity for doing injury to others should be limited. Before many days have passed Mr. Mensmore will come to you and beg your pardon for his hasty and quite unwarranted resolve." "Do you hear that, Bertie?" cried the girl. "Didn't I tell you so?" Mensmore came forward to her side of the table. "I need not wait, Phil, dear," he said simply. "I ask your pardon now. This business is in the hands of Providence. I was foolish to think that anything I could do would stave off the inevitable." "And if you have--to go--to China--you w-will take me with you?"