A long pause followed, during which no sound stirred in the intense darkness. The husband still leant over the wife, the wife still breathed faintly. Then---- In ten minutes from that strange sound Grey was back in his bedroom, standing before the glass with set resolute lips and a rigid white face. CHAPTER XVII. THE ASCENT OF THE TOWER OF SILENCE. "There need be no inquest," he thought. "There need be no inquest _now_. To-morrow morning every one in Daneford will believe that she is dead, and every one will be--right. Her name will be included in the list of the dead, there will be a reference to my broken-hearted behaviour at Asherton's Quay, and there will be expressions of sympathy with me. "I shall wear mourning. "What o'clock is it?" He looked at his watch. "Too soon yet. I must wait until all are asleep. "I shall wear mourning and receive the condolences of my friends. I shall pass through avenues of faces cast in sorrow for my grief. They will hush their voice when I enter the Daneford Bank. They will unanimously vote resolutions of sympathy at most of the public bodies to which I belong. And I--I--how shall I receive their greetings? "How shall I receive them? Shall I quail and tremble and jabber of to-night's work? Shall I become hysterical or gloomy? No, no, no. I shall be as bold at least as the thief whom they crucified on the Left Hand. "The oath I took by that bedside this evening was my swearing into the army of the everlasting damned, and no one shall ever say I quailed or I faltered. "What o'clock is it? Yet too soon. This is all I need be careful about. Once it is there, I shall be free and blithe--free and blithe! "I shall meet them all and never show a sign. It is a pity I did not go on the stage. I feel quite confident I can play out this part to the end, and carry my audience with me so thoroughly that not one of them will know I am playing a part. No living man shall find out I do not speak my own words. It is only comrade Judas and his friends know who the real author of the play is." He turned away from the glass and began pacing the room quickly. He was thinking with fierce pride of the brave front he should show to the world, and motion stimulated his mind and gave reality to his mental action. Yes, he should never waver. In fact he felt stronger now than before. He had lived under the shadow of her fault; now he faced his own crime. All depended on himself, and he knew he was equal to the situation and its contingencies. He could face them all. All the people of Daneford and Seacliff. Every one of---- He shivered, drew his body together, and leaned for a moment against the wall. The cold sweat oozed from his white forehead, and he gasped for breath. In a while he shook himself, threw up his arms, and wound them round his head, as if to protect himself against the blows of a merciless enemy, and moaned out, in a tone of craven misery: