"Aye! I had the passion such as you call love. Did it endure? You know well that it did not. So long as I was healthy and handsome and bright your attentions continued, but when I was reduced to this state, ten years ago, what did you do? Left me to marry another woman." "It was not my fault," he muttered uneasily; "my affairs were involved, and, as my wife had money, I was forced to marry her." "And you did marry her, and no doubt neglect her as you do me. Is Mrs. Hilliston any happier in her splendid house at Kensington Gore than I in this miserable cottage? I think not. I waited and waited, hoping your love would return. It did not; so I took my own course--revenge!" "And so wrote to Claude Larcher!" "Yes. Listen to me. I wrote the first letter on the impulse of the moment. I had been reading a book called 'A Whim of Fate,' which contained----" "I know! I know! I read it myself this evening." "Then you know that someone else is possessed of your secret. Who is John Parver?" "I don't know. I intend to find out. Meanwhile I am waiting to hear the conclusion of your story." Mrs. Bezel drew a long breath, and continued: "The book, which contained an account of the tragedy at Horriston, brought the fact so visibly before me that I wrote on the impulse telling you that I wished to see Claude, and reveal all. You came and implored and threatened. Then my impulse became a fixed determination. I saw how I could punish you for your neglect, and so persisted in my scheme. I wrote to Claude, and he is coming here to-morrow." "What do you intend to tell him?" "So much of the death of his father as I know." "You must not--you dare not," said Hilliston, with dry lips. "It means ruin!" "To you, not to me." "Impossible," he said curtly. "Our relations are too close for one to fall without the other." "So you think," rejoined Mrs. Bezel coolly; "but I know how to protect myself. And of one thing you may be assured, I will say nothing against you. All I intend to do is to tell him of his father's death." "He knows it already." "What?" "Yes! Did you think I was not going to be beforehand with you," sneered Hilliston triumphantly. "I guessed your intention when you wrote me that letter, and when Claude arrived in town I saw him before he could call here. I did not intend to tell him of the matter till your action forced me to do so. He has read all the papers in connection with his father's death, and intends to hunt down the murderer. Now, do you see what you have done?" Apparently the brutal plainness of this speech strongly affected Mrs. Bezel. It seemed as though she had not comprehended till that moment what might be the result of her actions. Now an abyss opened at her feet, and she felt a qualm of fear. "Nevertheless, I intend to go on now that I have begun," she said gloomily. "I will answer any questions Claude may ask me." "You will put him in possession of a clew."