Laurence was perhaps scarcely less so. He had not advised Aldean of his return, but had come from Reading in the hired fly. Dusty and battered, it contrasted discordantly with the spruceness and gaiety of the street; and Mallow, seated far back in it, his cap drawn over his eyes, winced more than once as the full meaning of it all forced itself upon him. "I wonder, does she feel as wretched as I do," he thought, bitterly. "I suppose she does. My poor Iphigenia! my poor girl! Her father has much to answer for." Lord Aldean received his friend in unbounded astonishment. He had not expected that Mallow would return on this of all days, and he fell to the conclusion that he must have been successful in his search, and have returned to stop the marriage at the eleventh hour. Yet Mallow certainly did not look as if he had succeeded. His dress was careless and his face was haggard; and he formed a striking contrast to Aldean in the smartness of conventional wedding-going garments. Indeed, as he arrived, Jim was on the point of leaving for the church. He signalled to his coachman to wait, and drew Mallow into the library. "Well," he said, breathlessly, "what have you done?" "Nothing; absolutely nothing," replied Mallow, throwing himself into a chair with a weary sigh. "I was afraid your journey would turn out a wild goose-chase," said Aldean, with a shrug. "So Carson is the right man after all?" "I have found nothing to prove that he is not." "What about the sandal-wood perfume?" "That is still a mystery, Jim, and, so far as I can see, is likely to remain one. I went to Athelstane Place, and I saw most of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, but I could find out nothing new. I called at New Scotland Yard, but with no better result. The case remains exactly as it did when the man was buried." "Has his name not been discovered?" "No. Nor have his friends, if he had any, communicated with the police." "Then you can't in any way connect Carson with the dead man?" "In no way. Two parallel straight lines cannot meet. Carson's existence can have nothing to do with the unknown man who was murdered." "I suppose you made no inquiries about Carson?" "Well, yes, I did; and I found out something." "Oh, come, that's better; I thought you said you had done absolutely nothing." "Well, what I did learn is of so little moment, Jim, that it amounts to nothing. I called at the P. and O. office and inquired about Carson. The clerk I spoke to told me that I was the second man who had asked for him." Aldean looked surprised. "Considering that Carson has no friend in England, that's curious. How long ago was the first inquiry made?" "Two days only before the _Pharaoh_ arrived." "Did you ask what kind of man he was who inquired for him?"