"Ha, ha, ha! Well, upon my life, my lady, you are excessively complimentary to me! But I am willing to believe that the tragic event of last week has shattered your nervous system and disturbed the equilibrium of your mind. But for that I should hardly know how to pardon your absurd insults. Have you anything more to say to me, Lady Vincent?" "Only this, my lord; that if I find I have wronged you by this dreadful suspicion, as perhaps I have, I shall be glad, yes, overjoyed, to acknowledge it and beg your pardon. And, in the meantime, I must ask you to keep your word with me, and investigate the disappearance of Katie!" "I will do so willingly, Lady Vincent. And now a word with you. Will you not change your mind and go with us to Mr. and Mrs. Dean to- night?" "No, my lord," replied Claudia, in a tone that admitted of no further discussion of the question. And thus they parted. For some time after Claudia left the library Lord Vincent remained sitting with his brows contracted, his mouth clenched, and his eyes fixed upon the ground. He was in deep thought. Handsome man as he was, villain was written all over his face, form, and manner in characters that even a child could have read; and, therefore, no one was to be pitied who, having once seen Lord Vincent, suffered themselves to be deceived by him. Presently he arose, bent toward the door and peered out, and, seeing that the coast was clear, he went out with his stealthy, cat-like step, and stole softly to the room of Mrs. Dugald. She was in her boudoir. He entered without knocking, locked the door behind him, and went and sat down by her side. "What now?" she inquired, looking up. "What now? Why, all is lost unless we act promptly!" "I said it." "Faustina, she has missed Katie!" "That was a matter of course." "But she suspects her fate." "What care we what she suspects? She can prove nothing," said Mrs. Dugald contemptuously. "Faustina, she can prove everything if she follows up the clew she has found. Listen. She was in the hall, near the door, when the deed was done! She heard the struggle and the cry and a part of our conversation." "We shall all be guillotined!" cried the woman, starting to her feet and standing before him in deadly terror. "We have no guillotining in England; but hanging is equally or even more disagreeable." "How can you talk so when my bones are turning to gristle and my heart to jelly with the fright!" cried Mrs. Dugald. "I jest to reassure you. If we act with promptitude there will be no danger; not in the least. I have thrown her off the scent for the present; I have told her that the noise, the struggle, the cry, and the exclamation she heard were nothing but this--that you were suffering from an attack of hysterics, and that I was trying to control and soothe you. I told her that I knew nothing whatever of the fate of her gorilla; and I did not spare the most solemn oaths to assure her of the truth of my statement."