Luigi nodded, and his eyes, shifting for the first time from Sir Gilbert’s face, turned to Lady Pell and then to Lisle, with a look which neither of them could fathom. “And who was that someone?” demanded Sir Gilbert. “Some member of my household, as a matter of course; still, I fail to understand why—eh, what is that you say? I did not catch your words.” The words uttered at first in little more than a whisper, were now spoken so that all present could hear them. “It was the Grey Monk who shut me up in the strong room.” CHAPTER XXXVIII. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS Luigi Rispani’s quietly spoken words sent a simultaneous thrill through his three listeners. It may be said to have been the very last answer to his question which Sir Gilbert had expected to receive. Indeed, so disconcerted by it was he, that for a few moments he sat like a man mentally bewildered, who has been asked to accept a statement which his reason refuses to credit, but which he is utterly without the means of refuting. It will be remembered that Lady Pell had already told him of Luigi’s strange experience that night in the spinny, besides which, there were all those other occasions of late when the apparition was said to have been seen by different members of the household—a body of testimony to which, when considered in the aggregate, he could no longer refuse to accord a certain amount of credence. There were circumstances, however, connected with this last alleged appearance which put it on an entirely different plane from the others, and which could be explained away by no theory either of optics or of self-created illusions with which Sir Gilbert was acquainted. “And do you mean deliberately to assert,” he said at length, addressing himself to Luigi, “that what you have just told us with regard to this so-called Grey Monk is the positive truth, and not an audacious attempt on your part to smother up the real facts of the case?” “It is the absolute truth, Sir Gilbert, incredible though it may seem. I had heard no sound, but all at once some instinct told me that I was no longer alone. I turned, and by the light of my lantern saw the figure standing in the shadow a little way back in the other room. Its face was towards me, but so hidden by its cowl, that hardly anything could be seen of it except its long grizzled beard. What followed, I hardly know, only that I heard the door shut and the key turned, and realised that I was a prisoner.” “I presume that neither of you spoke to the other?” “Not a word passed between us.” For a little while Sir Gilbert remained buried in thought. Then he said: “You may go for the present and remain in your own room till I send for you. In what way I may ultimately determine to deal with you I have not yet made up my mind.”