"His daughter--the daughter of that man?" she cried. "Yes," he answered seriously. "He did not know it, however, until when you were lying insensible after the marriage, he discovered upon your chest the tattoo-mark of the three hearts, which he himself had placed there years before. Then, overcome by remorse, he administered an antidote, placed you upon a seat in Hyde Park, and witched until you recovered consciousness and returned to Gloucester Square. It had before been arranged that an insurance already effected upon you should be claimed. The truth is," he went on, "that Wyndham Ashwicke, alias Major Tattersett, first married in York the daughter of a cavalry officer, and by her you were born. A year afterwards, however, they separated, your mother died, and you were placed in the convent at Brunoy under the name of Wynd, while your father plunged into a life of dissipation on the Continent which ended in the marriage with this lady, then known as La Gioia." "It seems incredible?" my love declared. "I cannot believe it?" "But Nora introduced you as Feo Ashwicke on the first occasion we met after our marriage," I remarked. "I well remember it. Nora must have discovered the secret of my birth, although, when I questioned her after your departure, she declared that she had only bestowed a fictitious name upon me as a joke." "Yet Ashwicke was your actual name," I observed. "You will find the register of your birth in York," interposed Graham. "I have told you the truth." "I will hear it from my father's own lips," she said. "Alas!" the grey-haired man answered very gravely, "that is impossible. Your father is dead." "Dead?" I echoed. "Tattersett dead?" "Yes; he was found lifeless in his rooms in Piccadilly East yesterday afternoon. His man called me, and discovered upon the table a tiny tube containing some crystals of the secret vayana. He had evidently touched them accidentally with his fingers, and the result was fatal. The police and doctor believe it to be due to natural causes, as I secured the tube and destroyed it before their arrival. The news of the discovery is in the evening papers;" and, taking a copy of the _Globe_ from his pocket, he handed it to me, indicating the paragraph. I read the four bare lines aloud, both my well-beloved and the dead man's widow standing in rigid silence. The elucidation of the bewildering mystery and its tragic _denouement_ held us speechless. It staggered belief. My explanation to Bullen, or our subsequent conversation, need not be here recounted. Suffice it to say that from that moment, when the truth became apparent, the Major's widow, who had once sought to take both our lives, became our firmest and most intimate friend, while Graham, having expressed regret at his association in the conspiracy, and declared his intention of leading an honest life in future, was allowed to escape abroad, where he still remains.