He spoke guardedly, lest it should be upon some matter other than the interest of the "Golden Boy" and to prevent the Honourable Felix from guessing that he had already been approached upon that subject by Lady Essington. It was not some other matter, however. It was again the mystery of the secret attacks upon his little lordship he was asked to dispel; and the Honourable Felix, plunging forthwith into the details connected with it, gave him exactly the same report as Lady Essington had done. "Come to the rescue, Mr. Cleek," he finished, rather excitedly. "Both my wife and I feel that you and you alone are the man to get at the bottom of this diabolical thing; and the boy is as dear to us as if he were our own. Help me to get proof--unimpeachable proof--of the hand which is engineering these diabolical attacks, that we may not only put an end to them before they go too far, but may avert the disgrace which publicity must inevitably bring." "Publicity, Mr. Carruthers? What publicity are you in dread of, please?" "That which could only bring shame to a dear, lovable young fellow if any hint of what I believe to be the truth should get out, Mr. Cleek," he replied. "To you I may confess it: I appeal to no medical man because I fear, for young Claude's sake, that investigation may lead to a discovery of the truth; for both my wife and I feel--indeed, we almost _know_--that it is his own grandmother, Lady Essington, who is injuring the boy and that it will not be long before she attempts to direct suspicion against _us_." "Indeed? For what purpose?" "To have us removed by the courts as not being fit to have the care of the child, and to get him transferred to her care, that she may enjoy the revenue from his estate." "Phew!" whistled Cleek softly. "Well done, my lady!" "We do our best to keep her from getting at him," went on the Honourable Felix, "but she succeeds in spite of us. His nursery was on the same floor as her rooms, but for greater safety I last night had him carried to my own bedchamber and double-locked all the windows and doors. I said to myself that nothing could get to him then; but--it did, just the same! In the middle of the night he woke up screaming and crying out that some one had come and stuck a long needle in his neck, and then for the first time--God! I nearly went off my head when I saw it--for the first time, Mr. Cleek, there was a mark upon him--three red raw little spots just over the collarbone on the left side of the neck, as if a bird had pecked him." "Hum-m-m! And all the windows closed, you say?" "All but one--the window of my dressing-room--but as that is barred so that nobody could possibly get in, I thought it did not matter, and so left it partly open for the sake of air."