A companionship which had no need of words seemed to have sprung up between them. They sat together for some minutes without speech, minutes during which the deep silence which reigned throughout the house seemed curiously accentuated. Josephine shivered. "I shall never know what happiness is," she declared, "until I have left this house--never to return!" "That will not be long," he reminded her gravely. She placed her hand on his. "It is full of the ghosts of my sorrows," she went on. "I have known misery here." "And I one evening of happiness," he said, smiling. Her eyes glowed for a moment, but she was disturbed, tremulous, agitated. "I listen for footsteps in the streets," she confessed. "I am afraid!" "Needlessly," he assured her. "I know for a fact that Shields is off the scent." "But he is not a fool," she answered hastily. Wingate's smile was full of confidence. "Dear," he said, "I do not believe that you have anything to fear. There have been no loose ends left. Behind your front door is safety." "The man Shields--I only saw him for a few minutes, but he impressed me," she sighed. "Shields is, without doubt, a capable person," Wingate admitted, "but he could only succeed in this case by blind guessing. Stanley Rees was brought into this house through the mews, without observation from any living person. Phipps, when he received that supposed message from you, was only too anxious to come the same way. They left their respective abodes for here in a secrecy which they themselves encouraged, for Rees imagined that your husband had urgent need of him, and Phipps was ass enough to believe that your summons meant what he wished it to mean. There has been no leakage of information anywhere.--Honestly, Josephine, I think that you may banish your fears." "A woman's fears only, dear," she admitted, as she gave him her hands. "Why did nature make my sex pessimists and yours optimists, I wonder? I would so much rather look towards the sun." "Soon," he promised her with a smile, "I shall dominate your subconscious mind. You shall see the colours of life through my eyes. You will find your long-delayed happiness." The tears which stood in her eyes were of unalloyed content,--the drama so close at hand was forgotten. Their hands remained clasped for a moment. Then he left her. Back into that room with its strange mystery of shadows, its odour of mingled tragedy and absurdity. Grant rose from a high-backed chair guarding the table, as Wingate approached. The latter glanced towards the three men crouching around the table. Their white faces gleamed weirdly against the background of shaded light. There were black lines under Dredlinton's eyes. He made a gurgling effort at speech,--his muttered words were only partly coherent. "I resign! I resign!" Wingate shook his head.