"Duchess," said the official, "I grieve to say that one of your guests of this evening, the Marchese di Maltagliala, has been assassinated in the garden, or possibly in the road, and his dead body was dragged into the garden afterwards. He was found just inside the east garden door, which by some mischance had been left unlocked." A deathlike silence followed the _delegato's_ words. [Illustration: "A DEATHLIKE SILENCE FOLLOWED THE DELEGATO'S WORDS"] Fay turned her bloodless face towards him, and her eyes never left him. She felt Michael listening behind the screen. "There was hardly an instant," continued the official, with a touch of professional pride, "before the alarm was given. By a fortunate chance I myself happened to be near. The garden was instantly surrounded. It is being searched now. It seems hardly possible that the assassin can have escaped. I entreat your pardon for intruding this painful subject on the sensitive mind of a lady, and breaking in on your privacy." "I should think he has escaped by now," said Fay hoarsely. "It is possible, but improbable," said the official. Then he turned to the duke. "This is, I understand from you, the only way into the house from the garden?" "The only way that might possibly still be open," said the duke. "The doors on the ground floor are both locked, as we have seen." "We greatly feared," continued the duke, turning to his wife, "that the murderer if he were still in the garden, finding it was being searched, might terrify you by rushing in here." "No one has been in here," said Fay automatically. "Have you been in this room ever since you left the saloon?" said her husband. "Yes. I have been reading here ever since." "Then it is impossible that anyone should have escaped into the house through this room," said the duke. "The duchess must have seen him. It is no longer necessary to search the house." The _delegato_ hesitated. He opened the glass door and spoke to the men with the lantern. "They are convinced that it is not possible he is concealed in the garden," he said. "Perhaps if the duchess were deeply engaged in study he might have serpentinely glided through into the next room without her perceiving him. It is, I understand, the duchess's private apartment. It might be as well--where does the duchess's apartment lead into?" "Into my rooms," said the duke, "and my dog is there. He would have given the alarm long ago if any stranger had passed through my room. If he is silent no one has been near him." There was a pause. Fay learned what suspense means. The _delegato_ twirled his moustaches. He was evidently reluctant to give up the remotest chance, and yet reluctant to inconvenience the duke further. "It is just possible," he said, "that the assassin may have taken refuge in here before the duchess came back to her apartment. My duties are grave, duchess. Have I your permission?" Fay bowed.