"I should be obliged, mademoiselle. Remember, we have not got yet to the part which will interest me most." "It is coming," said the violinist. "Well, Mr. Mexton, I formed my society, as I say, with the Rainbow Feather as a symbol of its meaning. My first recruits were exiled Poles and Russians, who had all the will, but none of the power, to harm the tyrant." "The Czar?" "I call him the tyrant. But these recruits had no money, and without money I could not hope to forward the cause. Then God, who is against oppression, sent in my way Mr. Herne. I met him--well, never mind how; but he became acquainted with me, and he came to the meetings of my society, in this very room. I found out that he had all sympathy with the oppressed, and so he was willing to aid me to lift the foreign yoke from the necks of my countrymen. I looked on him as my own, as a man vowed to my service, until I learnt from Mr. Lovel that he was engaged to be married." "Do you know Mr. Lovel?" "Very well," replied Catinka quietly. "I have known him for two years, and he feigned to be in love with me. But it was only a passing fancy, and he left London, to fall in love with your Milly Lester. But Herne was engaged to that lady, and out of jealousy Lovel told me of the engagement. I was angry, for I thought that she would lead Mr. Herne away from me, and that his money and his enthusiasm would be lost to the cause. Later on Mr. Herne received letters from your Barnstead, which assured him that Miss Lester was flirting and making play, as you may say, with Mr. Lovel. He grew jealous, and the day before the murder, when he received a letter stating that Miss Lester was to meet Mr. Lovel, he determined to go down for himself and see if she was faithless." "Who wrote those letters?" asked Paul, eagerly. "I cannot tell you that," replied the Pole, shaking her head. "They were scribbled on very dirty paper, and in an illegible hand--at least, almost illegible. I saw only two." "Did Mr. Herne know who wrote them?" "He told me he had no idea," said Catinka, cautiously; "but this I know not. They were sent to his town address in Berkeley Square." "Yes; I know he has a house there," said Paul, in thoughtful tones. "How came you to see those letters, Catinka?" "Mr. Herne showed the last two to me when I reproached him with leaving London instead of attending to a meeting of our society. He said that he must go down on that Sunday night and assure himself that the reports were false." "Did he believe them?" "I think he did," said Catinka, promptly. "He said that Miss Lester was young and thoughtless, and might be led astray by the evil mind of Mr. Lovel. He wanted to save her from destruction, and talked in quite a religious way about her." "I know," said Paul, quietly. "Herne is a fanatic. So he went down on that Sunday night?" "By the train at four o'clock in the afternoon. I followed." "Why did you follow?"