"Stand by me, Jack, stand by me. I knew nothing of this. It is as great a surprise to me as to you. Oh, my poor brother! He has done this for love of me." Murchison heard the impassioned tones, the despairing appeal. They would have melted a heart of stone. What effect would they have upon the unsuspicious Jack? Pomfret withdrew himself, almost coldly, from the proffered embrace. In a few seconds, as it seemed to Hugh, he had grown from a boy to a man. He turned to the detective, and Hugh was delighted at the sudden dignity that seemed to have come to him. "You seem to know a great deal about this man whom you have handcuffed, and who admits you are only doing your duty. Do you know anything about his sister, Miss Burton?" Mr. Davidson glanced significantly at Murchison. They had arranged a little conversation between themselves, but Jack's frankness had rendered this unnecessary. "What I know of the young lady, sir, I am sorry to tell you, is not to her credit. She has been associated with this man for some years. She started with him in Paris some time ago, when he was a card-sharper, and running a gambling-saloon. But to be fair, she is not in this business with him, and I have nothing against her." "Are they what they represent themselves to be, brother and sister?" Pomfret's voice was very quiet, but there was in it a suppressed note of agony. How he had loved this girl, and a few hours ago he had clasped her in his arms as his wife! The keen eyes of the detective softened as he looked at Jack, who was hiding the most intense agitation under an apparently stoical demeanour. "I have no accurate information on that point, sir, but I should very much doubt the fact of their relationship." While this brief conversation was taking place between Pomfret and Davidson, Norah was still standing with arms outstretched. Again there came forth the appealing, impassioned cry: "Jack, stand by me! Jack, stand by me!" She sank down on the sofa, and put her hands before her face. "Stay with me, wait till they have all gone, and I will explain everything. I have nothing to do with this." But Pomfret stood like a man turned to stone. Then suddenly, Norah gave a little gurgling cry, and fainted. Pomfret made a step towards her, and halted. His great love for her had been killed. Perhaps at this moment he hated her more than he had ever loved her. The parlour-maid, with a white face, was peeping in the room. Davidson beckoned to her. "My colleague will help you to take her up to her room. Look after her. She's as game as they make them, but to-night's t been too much for her. She has been playing for big stakes, and she has lost." The maid and Davidson's burly assistant lifted up the recumbent form. And when they had carried her out, Pomfret's self-control seemed to give way. He suddenly clutched at his throat and turned to Hugh. "Old man, I have had as much as I can stand. For Heaven's sake, take me from this accursed house."