THE SECRET OF THE TOWER BY ANTHONY HOPE 1919 AUTHOR OF "THE PRISONER OF ZENDA," "RUPERT OF HENTZAU," ETC. CONTENTS I. DOCTOR MARY'S PAYING GUEST II. THE GENERAL REMEMBERS III. MR. SAFFRON AT HOME IV. PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE V. A FAMILIAR IMPLEMENT VI. ODD STORY OF CAPTAIN DUGGLE! VII. A GENTLEMANLY STRANGER VIII. CAPTAIN ALEC RAISES HIS VOICE IX. DOCTOR MARY'S ULTIMATUM X. THAT MAGICAL WORD MOROCCO! XI. THE CAR BEHIND THE TREES XII. THE SECRET OF THE TOWER XIII. RIGHT OF CONQUEST XIV. THE SCEPTER IN THE GRAVE XV. A NORMAL CASE XVI. DEAD MAJESTY XVII. THE CHIEF MOURNERS XVIII. THE GOLD AND THE TREASURE CHAPTER I DOCTOR MARY'S PAYING GUEST "Just in time, wasn't it?" asked Mary Arkroyd. "Two days before the--the ceremony! Mercifully it had all been kept very quiet, because it was only three months since poor Gilly was killed. I forget whether you ever met Gilly? My half-brother, you know?" "Only once--in Collingham Gardens. He had an _exeat_, and dashed in one Saturday morning when we were just finishing our work. Don't you remember?" "Yes, I think I do. But since my engagement I'd gone into colors. Oh, of course I've gone back into mourning now! And everything was ready--settlements and so on, you know. And rooms taken at Bournemouth. And then it all came out!" "How?" "Well, Eustace--Captain Cranster, I mean. Oh, I think he really must have had shell-shock, as he said, even though the doctor seemed to doubt it! He gave the Colonel as a reference in some shop, and--and the bank wouldn't pay the check. Other checks turned up, too, and in the end the police went through his papers, and found letters from--well, from her, you know. From Bogota. South America, isn't it? He'd lived there ten years, you know, growing something--beans, or coffee, or coffee-beans, or something--I don't know what. He tried to say the marriage wasn't binding, but the Colonel--wasn't it providential that the Colonel was home on leave? Mamma could never have grappled with it! The Colonel was sure it was, and so were the lawyers." "What happened then?" "The great thing was to keep it quiet. Now, wasn't it? And there was the shell-shock--or so Eustace--Captain Cranster, I mean--said, anyhow. So, on the Colonel's advice, Mamma squared the check business and--and they gave him twenty-four hours to clear out. Papa--I call the Colonel Papa, you know, though he's really my stepfather--used a little influence, I think. Anyhow it was managed. I never saw him again, Mary." "Poor dear! Was it very bad?" "Yes! But--suppose we had been married! Mary, where should I have been?" Mary Arkroyd left that problem alone. "Were you very fond of him?" she asked.