Of course, at the end of that time, the young man knew that his answer to her would be the same, and then she might revenge herself by acquainting the authorities with her plausible story. But it was questionable if she would do so even then, as the fear in her eyes hinted that she knew more about the crime than she dared to admit. If anything was made public, Hench had an idea that Madame Alpenny might be placed in the dock instead of himself. He could not be sure of this, as even though she had called on Evans to set the advertisement trap, there was nothing to show that she had come to Cookley on the evening of the murder. In that case it would be difficult for her to prove that he had really kept the appointment in Parley Wood. But, as Hench recognized, the fact of the advertisement being addressed to him, together with the undoubted fact that he benefited to the extent of ten thousand a year by the death of his uncle, would undoubtedly throw suspicion on him. The girl at the Bull Inn might remember his voice as that of the tramp; and then the fact of his shaving off his beard would suggest that he had some reason to escape the accusation. On the whole, it was tolerably certain that if Madame Alpenny _did_ go to the police, there would be trouble out of which it would not be easy to emerge scathless. But, owing to his belief that Madame Alpenny knew more about the matter than she would admit, Hench felt sure she would not seek the assistance of the authorities. And in any case he was absolutely safe for one whole week. Much could be done in that time. It was best, meanwhile, to explain things to Gwen, so that she might be sure of his love. When she learned exactly how he had come to propose to Zara, then she would understand that his desire to marry the dancer had only been the longing of a lonely man for home and companionship. With comprehension of this fact, as Hench devoutly hoped, the love of Gwen would return, and she would stand by him in the coming trouble. He needed all the friends he could gather round him to face things, and particularly felt that having his cousin to defend him would brace him up to defend himself. Without her love the young man felt that it would not be worth while to fight. Ten thousand a year and a clearance of his name from suspicion would not make up for the loss of the girl, who was now all in all to him. Therefore the first thing to do was to win back Gwen's heart; after that the deluge could come, so far as Hench was concerned.