"'So you thought you would leave me, did you?' he cried over and over again as the lash fell faster and faster. 'Well, you won't! Not till I send you to hell, which I will some day.' "At last he paused and wiped the perspiration from his brow. He was very fat and his exertions were evidently telling on him. "'Why shouldn't I kill you now? I have my pistol within reach of my hand. It is here on my desk. Ah, you didn't know that, did you?' He gave a fiendish laugh. "The woman shuddered but made no attempt to rise. "I was slowly recovering from the terror which had at first paralysed me. I realised I must act at once if I meant to save Lady Wilmersley's life. The desk was behind him. "Dropping on my hands and knees, I crept cautiously toward it. 'Kill you, kill you, that is what I ought to do,' he kept repeating. "I reached the desk. No pistol was to be seen; yet I knew it was there. As I fumbled among his papers, my hand touched an ancient steel gauntlet. Some instinct told me that I had found what I sought. But how to open it was the question. Some agonising moments passed before I at last accidentally pressed the spring and a pistol lay in my hand. "He again raised the cord. "'Stop!' I cried. "He swung around and as he caught sight of the pistol levelled at his head, the purple slowly faded from his face. "Then seemingly reassured at finding that it was only a boy who confronted him, he took a step forward. "'Who the devil are you? Get out of here!' he cried. "'Stay where you are or I fire.' "'What nonsense is this?' he blustered, but I noticed that his knees shook and he made no further effort to move. "'Climb out of the window. There is a car waiting in the road,' I called to the girl. "'She shall not go!' he shrieked. The veins stood out on his temples. "I held him with my eye and saw his coward soul quiver with fear as I moved deliberately nearer him. "'Do as I tell you. Run for your life,' I repeated. "'But you?' gasped Lady Wilmersley. "'I have the pistol. I am not afraid. I will follow you,' I assured her. "I knew rather than saw that she picked up a jacket and bag which lay near the window. With a soft thud she dropped into the night. That is the last I saw of her. What became of her I do not know." Amy paused a moment. "As Lord Wilmersley saw his wife disappear, he gave a cry like a wounded animal and rushed after her. I fired. He staggered back a few steps, then turning he ran into the adjoining room. I heard a splash but did not stop to find out what happened. Almost beside myself with terror, I fled from the castle. If you have any more questions to ask, you had better hurry." She stopped abruptly, trembling from head to foot, and glanced wildly about her till her eyes rested on her husband. For a long, long moment she regarded him in silence. She seemed to be gathering herself together for a supreme effort. All four men watched her in breathless suspense.