"Is he?" said Flexen dryly. "What kind of terms was he on with his murdered cousin?" "Well, I must say I didn't expect you to ask that question," said Mr. Carrington pettishly. "What kind of terms was the late Lord Loudwater likely to be on with his heir? They hated one another like poison." "I thought as much," said Mr. Flexen. "And what kind of a man is the new man--anything like his dead cousin?" "Oh, well, all the Loudwaters are pretty much of a muchness. But the present man is a better man all round--better manners and better brains," said Mr. Carrington. "Better brains, and you think he'll be willing to celebrate his succession to the peerage by a first-class scandal of this kind, a scandal which may bring him this money, but which will certainly bring odium on him?" said Mr. Flexen. "When it's a case of bringing a murderer to justice," said Mr. Carrington obstinately. "The murderer of a man he hated like poison? I should think that he'd want to see his way pretty clear. And it isn't clear--not by any means. For there's precious little chance of Mrs. Manley's giving Lord Loudwater's threat to halve her allowance as the reason of her visit to him that night. In fact, there's no chance at all. Manley will see to that. Once attack the genuineness of that signature, and you open his eyes to his danger. She'll come into the witness-box with quite another reason for that visit, and a good reason too. Manley will find it for her," said Mr. Flexen with conviction. "But there's the quarrel. She can't get over that quarrel," said Mr. Carrington stubbornly. "She'll deny the quarrel. It's only Mrs. Carruthers' word against hers. Besides, Mrs. Carruthers heard what she did hear through a closed door. It will be so easy to make out that she made a mistake." "You seem to take it for granted that Mrs. Manley will commit perjury at that young scoundrel's bidding," snapped Mr. Carrington. "I take it for granted that she'll be a woman fighting to save her husband. And I'm also sure that there'll be precious few mistakes in tactics made in the fight. I think that all you'll get out of the trial will be a strong presumption that Lord Loudwater committed suicide. I'd bet that that is the line Manley will take. And she'll make a thundering good witness for him. She's a good-looking woman, with plenty of intelligence." Mr. Carrington gazed at him with unhappy eyes. His square, massive face had lost utterly its expression of triumph. "But hang it all!" he cried. "What are we going to do? Knowing what we know, we can't sit still and do nothing." "I can't see _anything_ we can do," said Mr. Flexen frankly, and he rose. "You have demonstrated that Manley's position is impregnable." He took his leave of the dejected lawyer.