“Show this person out,” said Jack, choosing a cigar from a box on the mantelpiece, and snipping the end off with as great deliberation as is possible with a snip. Priscilla had already gone out of the room by the other door--the one which led into the dining-room. The man looked at Jack, and then looked at the respectful but unmistakably muscular footman. “Good morning, Mr. Wingfield,” he said, picking up his hat. “Good morning,” said Mr. Wingfield. “Fine weather for the harvest, isn’t it?” “Admirable,” responded the departing guest. “Admirable! Ha! ha!” He made a very inefficient villain of melodrama in spite of his “Ha, ha!” laugh. Yes, but he occupied a very important position as an obstacle to the happiness of Mr. and Mrs. Wingfield. He was legally the husband of the young woman who called herself Mrs. Wingfield, and who had never called herself by his name, and a legal husband is a quantity that has always to be reckoned with. His position is a pretty secure one when considered from the standpoint of English legality. In America he would do well not to step on a slide. CHAPTER XXVIII That’s over, at any rate,” said Jack, when he had come to the side of Priscilla in the dining-room. He was smiling, but his face was pale, and his fingers that held his cigar were twitching. “I didn’t say just what I meant to say, but I think I said enough.” “Every word that you said was the right word,” she cried. “You spoke like a man who knows that a fight has to be faced, and does not fear to face it. Dearest, you were splendid; only--what do you know about him? Who has been telling you anything?--that about the woman--who suggested to you that he had gone to a woman?” “I have had experience of men of all sorts and conditions. I knew when I saw the fellow that I had to deal with a man on whom such a shot would tell. It was a shot, and I hope that it may turn out to have been a happy one for us. What was the name he mentioned?--someone who he said had been giving him away?” “Lyman.” “Lyman. So it was. We must make a note of that. Lyman is the name of the man that is ready to give him away. Now, who is Lyman?” “Lyman is the name of the captain of the barque that was wrecked on the coast of Nova Scotia. He was among the saved.” “You knew that? Well, that’s so much. I’m not sure that it’s a great deal, but the smallest contribution will be thankfully received.” “Another mystery--that postcard. It was from the gunmakers--about the last cartridges. What would you have learned if he had recognized the handwriting of the clerk?”