WYLLARD'S WEIRD A Novel BY THE AUTHOR OF "LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET," "VIXEN," "ISHMAEL," ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. II. LONDON JOHN AND ROBERT MAXWELL MILTON HOUSE, SHOE LANE, FLEET STREET AND 35 ST. BRIDE STREET, E.C. 1885 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. I. LÉONIE'S MISSION II. A STUDENT OF MEN AND WOMEN III. BOTHWELL BEGINS TO SEE HIS WAY IV. THE HOME OF THE PAST V. A FACE FROM THE GRAVE VI. STRUCK DOWN VII. THE GENERAL RECEIVES A SUMMONS VIII. WIDOWED AND FREE IX. TWO WOMEN X. ROSES ON A GRAVE WYLLARD'S WEIRD CHAPTER I. LÉONIE'S MISSION. The report of the interrogatory before the _Juge d'Instruction_ was followed by a page of notes written by the police-officer Drubarde. The child Léonie Lemarque was not again in a condition to give her evidence. A violent attack of brain-fever succeeded her second appearance before the _Juge d'Instruction_, and on her recovery from the fever it was found that her mind had suffered seriously from the shock she had undergone. Memory was a blank. The _Juge d'Instruction_ visited her in her own home when she was convalescent, and tried to recall the impressions made upon her at the time of the murder, in the hope of identifying the murderer; but she had forgotten the whole circumstances of her aunt's death, and yet she suffered agonies from a vague terror associated in her enfeebled mind with the very name of that aunt. As soon as she was well enough to travel she was taken to the Ursuline convent at Dinan by a good priest who had befriended her grandmother for many years. After this transference to the convent the police lost sight of the child Lemarque. Throughout the evening, even amidst the distractions of a finely acted comedy by Augier, and in the wakeful intervals of a somewhat disturbed night, Edward Heathcote brooded over the details of the evidence which he had read, not once, but several times, before he closed the volume of reports. The detective instinct, which is a characteristic of every well-trained lawyer's mind, had been suddenly developed into almost a passion. He no longer limited his desire to the unravelling of the web of Léonie Lemarque's fate; he ardently longed to discover the mystery of Marie Prévol's murder--to succeed where one of the most accomplished Parisian detectives had ignominiously failed. His eagerness to hear more about Drubarde's efforts and failures in this particular case led him to the Quai des Grands Augustins at an early hour, in time to surprise the worthy Félix in the act of breakfasting temperately upon _café au lait_ and boiled eggs. Monsieur Drubarde gave his new friend a cheery welcome. It was a lovely morning, balmy as midsummer, and the little garden on the leads was bright with gaily-coloured asters, nasturtiums, and geraniums, and agreeably perfumed with mignonette. "Do you perceive the exquisite odours?" asked Drubarde. "Your mignonette is delicious."