ut now, that you may be wiser than she-by some twenty-four hours

14th N

AR VA

know him not, I trust him implicitly. I do not care what has happened. Shall I tell you

od to be true"? He has much to answer for. Nothing is too good to be true. Not even the love of a man for a maid, Valerie. You found it so good that you were thoroughl

me you, of course; but t

ectionat

FOR

*

moment later with two ladies, the Judge's clerk eyed the new-comers with something of that impotent indignation with which a first

he Red Judge comes to Brooch but three times a year, and

ith painful clarity that the prisoner's sins of commission included that of felony. That Mr. Morgan had been caught red-handed had not prevented the rogue from pleadin

n," said counse

n!" cried the c

ed his colleague, openi

hall, came quickly. A moment

e, the excellence of his speech-above all, the personality of the witness-gave the lie to his garb. Moreover, he displayed a quiet dignity of manner

t he was a chauffeur, had resembled one of the landed gentry of the Edwardian Age, and that the last but

he oath and gl

ce an expression of profound resignation, which was plainly intended to indicate to his colleague the unpleasan

ace which he had once transfigured, he found it frozen. That proud red bow of a mouth, that had been his for the taking, might have been graven of precious stone. Here was no vestige o

to counsel's questions mechan

, known that he w

been desperately bruised. For a little he had been stunned. More than once, as he had walked dazedly home, he had tripped and stumbled. And, on reaching the house, he had done what he had never thought to do-surreptitiously poured and swallowed a glass of his maste

had not gone so far. It was while they were yet upon the threshold of harmony that the end had come. Of his honesty Anthony felt that he had no right to question her. The lady had

mination-in-chief the i

n and whirled i

rth was s

ss French herself could h

g to see him once more, and the case of "The King against Morgan" had offered her the chance. She had heard of the matter, and knew he must come to court to give his evidence. In such a place she would be able to study him undisturbed, and, most important of

unsel for the Cr

ve a cry and rushed i

did yo

tance arrived, he was secured, and in the

counsel resu

omebody touched him upon the shoulder, and he turned to see his client leaning out

at is it?" he w

breathed in

e said evilly. "Put it

ser. "An' don' try an' teach me my

at Mr. Morgan su

e there, he adjusted his gown, consulted a blank sheet of pape

leave your

hesitate

n with one member of t

ou dism

w

hy

lt of a diff

sir. That's

se insulted me, and

y fairly took the wind

of excitement he str

-assaul

d

asty, are

't thi

stion-the night of the burglary with whic

rivate

footman, return at

said

drinks at the-er

nk som

hours were

ut f

a good deal i

," said

drinks did

or three glas

sort o

mpag

ou had a go

d myself

u returned-shall

g that I was under th

my quest

ge inte

he witness was under the influence of drink,

ch he might first of all hammer the witness and then erect a defence. His efforts went unrewarded, and behind him in the dock Mr. Morgan ground his teeth with vexation. That he was not getting h

time counsel drew

notice to leave yo

id Anthon

st lost interest, pricked up its ears. Hardly disguising his relief, counsel proceeded to develop the impression in his own time-honoured way.

is is most interesting

me...

iven noti

ndeed.

ivate r

verting that after a moment's hesitation the jury

ink apologetically, "I'm

ony

d, "to leave the

hy

, and the Judge l

any way to embarrass you, bu

was well aware of the amazing po

s that the witness knows considerably more ab

ised shaft

emotion rustled over the court, and the jury leaned forward.... Only the Judg

eyes, Mr. Morgan moistened hi

is element, addre

cally, "whence this sudden de

the reply w

counsel took up the ru

e said. "I tak

and joined the chau

ce. But had they the jury's? He did not wish to usurp the functions of the cinema or the stage, but it was his duty to remind them that sometimes Truth was stranger than Fiction.... Here were two servants, who were obviously not servants at all, giving such overwhelming satisfaction that they were

befooled, summed up rather wearily, and at twenty-f

ngs considered, upon indecency. It is good to think that the warder who hustled him

*

departure. Undoubtedly it had to do with Anne Alison. His very reticence proved it. Perhaps she was going, too.... Anne Alison.... At the very thought of the girl, Valerie's resentment welled up anew. Jealousy knows no law. The re

ly interruption-nothing less, in fact, than a sn

e look

chstone with some asperi

h what?" s

s the matter with you nowadays. To snort at all, I mus

matter?" s

stone star

ozled by a knave, you have heard a friend of yours grossly insulted, and you ask me what's the matter." The car swung round a corner, and Lady Touchstone, who was unready, heeled

fening report from beneath them annou

road. Then he applied the hand-brake an

Lady Touchstone sat

began

ou what he's do

t regar

shortly. "Though of what interest a deflated t

up his mind to tell you that we shall have to walk home

one glanced

s." She raised her voice. "All right, Mason. Miss Valerie's broken it to

ood, my

id Valerie, "it

e survival of the Roman chariot." Placidly she settled herself in her corner and closed her

until George Alison, in response to Mason's signals, was bringing the grea

ders chilled Valerie as the breath of a crypt. Her aunt, on th

n. Hat in hand, he descended into the road and, speaking with grave civility, put his car at the ladies' disposal. This being

tarted to

d, "of course you're coming

id Lady Touchstone. "Mr.

r host shoo

the car can come back. I shouldden dream o

at she had never notice

ht desperately to pu

. That we do not know one another is my fault. Please get i

r. Bumb

ferent.... But we're both of us proud, me lady, fer you to 'ave t

learly stoutly resolved not to improve an acquaintance which his wife did

one hauled d

argue. Will you tell Mrs. Bumble that, if Thursday's quite convenie

ie put ou

sent," she said. "Tha

oment they

the ex-grocer loo

ftly. Then he put on his hat and turned to Ma

ht, Lady Touchstone pick

head. "Stop the car, please. Valerie and Major Lyved

owed up w

rd. With her head high, she stepped to the seat he had left. As he was closing the high side door upon her, her fur coa

short six inches away,

ouchstone were hanging out of their seats, raving

faint smile, Anthony leaned forward and kissed the prou

as a fine wrap, and ample. In an instant the gulf had become a sea of troubles, with the house that Jack had built upon one side, and the castle w

ar slid

dy Touchstone, "ar

laughed

he cried. "I've already risked

ip looked

landaulette. Very different from a court-house. The seats are softer, fo

u my ad

ady Touchstone

I your

se you

ng to George Alison with an unwonted liveliness, punctuated with little bursts of merriment.

re very kind, Lady Touchstone, and I'm p

claim a previous intimacy. For another, it was an affair, not of hearts only, but of deeps calling. Each lifting up the other's heart, the twain had distilled a music that

alerie French-that had wrought the havoc. That cord and bowl were the property as much of Anthony as of her had not

My Lady Disdain upon the mouth-that was an answer. That would teach her to draw upon an unarmed man. For she had thought him

stone was

but neither would speak. When it was just too late, Eleanor opened her mouth.... Unknown to her, I went to the florist's shop and looked at their order-book. Sure enough, there was the

more worthless," said

nough. I promise

he laughed bitterly.

shall be at Bell Hammer before we know where we are." Suddenly she leaned forward and caught at the f

set hi

ady Touchstone. We've got to

. And how are you two goats going to work it out for yourselves? With one of you bleating

sed

n. D'you hear? Blindness of heart. From pride, vainglory and hypocrisy. Not that you're hypocritical, bu

s hat and put her h

ped past a red lodge an

sought for a poc

it. It's a real compliment, Anthony Lyveden. You're the

wept to t

a flash. Tenderly

d alighted, Valerie was

her steadily. Then

ze," he said. "It

Valerie quietly. "Tha

a servant op

her heel and wal

had gone to bed, Anthony called his

wonderful, peerless creature, to dazzle the poor fool's eyes. And the fool just fell down and worshipped her. He didn't forget his little dog, Patch. He never did that. But-well, it wasn't the same. Of course not. You must have felt it sometimes.... But you're a good little chap. And I couldn't help it, Patch. She-seemed-so-very-sweet.... I risked your life for her once. I did, really." He

rily, and got upon his feet. The terrier leaped

ny la

eased, are you

gas, and the two

s as good

form of displacement. They were, so to speak, crowded out. All day long he was for ever forcing his attention upon some matter or other to the exclusion of the lady. A thousand times she came tripping-always he fobbed her off. Considering h

Sleep, whom he had counted his ally, proved herself neutral. She was content to knit up the sleeve of care. That her handmaidens as fast unravelled it was none of her business. After a week of this devilry, Anthony groaned. Then he set his teeth, and, plea

city, Nature plucked anoth

egan to l

*

othing could induce them to discard: out of pure courtesy Lady Touchstone ate enough for a schoolboy; thereby doing much to atone for Valerie, who ate nothing at all: the A

ust, of course, put his smal

tsies, and Mr. Bumble was offering the stirrup-cup of humble duty, when the terrier emerged from some laurels and, recog

cheek. Patch lay down on his back and put his legs in the air. His tail was going, and there was a shy invitation in the bright bro

h," she whisper

put him down tenderly. Then she step

ning out of the drive tha

er was gently but firmly declined: and, since her niec

quarter before ten o'clock-that a gentlem

sional flick of a page argued his awful attention to the recital of crime: then the keen grey eyes slid back to the glowing coals, and the longhand went by t

boy should grow dull," and, except for the servants, somewhere below stairs, the gr

far end a huge carved writing-table loomed out of the shadows; six high-backed chairs reared themselves here and there against the walls; between prodigious windows a gigantic press lifted its massive head. Reckoning the little table bearing the lamp, and a pair of easy-chairs, that is a ready inventory. A heavy carpet and curtai

ps, about two minutes of time, he crossed his knees sudden

ttered. "Where on earth

hing his memory. He was, indeed, so much engrossed in this occup

ollow th

o the heavy bell-pull by the side of the hearth, on to a high-backed chair against the wall, down again to the floor-all black here, for the light is too distant to show th

n grey eyes came to rest-idly. The next momen

and the ill-fitting wig that gaped about the shrunken temples gave it the queer pinched look which tells of a starved belly. Eyes red-rimme

Justice Molehill's

able appeared to claim the attention of those horrible eyes.... But not for long. Indeed, they had subjected the document to the very barest perusal, when, with a conv

l the agony of disappointed avarice, all the torment of mortification in defeat, all the frenzy of impotent fury, bla

fluttered out of the loosened fingers, the red-rimmed eyes took on anoth

hey hesitated, craven flesh rebelling against a recreant will. They shook so frightfully upon encountering the butt that it seeme

tarting, the mouth working painfully. Resolved to be rid of life, yet terrified to die, the w

ue clove to the

lently that the introduction of the muzzle into the gaping mouth was hardly accomplished. Twice cup missed lip, and

marshal had heard more than once at this hour, and, after discussion,

squinting until the pupils were almost lost to view, they were the orbs of a fiend. Even as the Judge gazed, th

fell in, and the Judge star

dles we

of stout heart, he picked up the lamp and walked to the writing-table at the end of the room. Here all was in order, and the closest scrutiny failed to reveal any trace of the vision. The chair was the

y be expected to relate. The reflection was most provoking. So much so, indeed, that, after a moment's hesitation, the Judge picked up the chair and placed it upon the table. Then he bent down and, thrusting his hands beneath the edge of the carpet, lifted this up from the floor. The fabric was

ving that the floor had been diligently stained all over with some coffee-coloured preparation, for the second time in the evening his lordship swo

ng was faded, but

Jan.,

I

favour a bond for the vast sum declared in your letter. In a word, though the name subscribed to the bond be that of Bedlington, it was not the Marquess' hand that set it there. Who hath done you this injury, I know not, but

, Mr. Justice Molehill raised his

y. "Rome. That's righ

eden was the name of t

rd it b

*

rmaid was counting u

Monday twenty-nine,

the first

son regard

t four weeks I've had seventeen punctures, I've endured a miscarriage of justice whi

would think that Anne and I had enjoyed

feur shoo

. "In the first place, what

tures," was the reply, "we'

almost as bad as golf. 'What

e feminine appetite than the spectacle of Justice derailed. The apotheosis of our esteemed friend and late

" almost scream

id he'd pleaded guilty and been sent down for five yea

e. As if the very thought of that man walk

"Same principle as a geyser, I suppose.... Well, as I w

aid Betty stoutly. "

d wrinkled

al. He was nice to you because he'

passed his cup

ilkily. "I wouldn't m

y George re

iantly, "he hadn't

sister-in-law and nodded

eacre,"

lieve me. He as good as told me so the day bef

e from the table and, coming behind the

laying her cheek against his. "Betty and I were too much for him. Which rem

ed his head round

suggesting t

Heaven knows. But he's just c

lourmai

?" queri

o distractio

And I suppose, if they'd hated one another like poison, t

ling smile, "but then, you se

in the act of drinkin

when he received an offer which was conditional upon his immediate departure from Hawthorne, he had laid the facts before Mr. Bumble and left two days later. All efforts to persuade him to leave an address were unavailing. This

here it is now, where it will lie, I dare say, until the crack of doom-behind

e expedient of wearing the Mons medal, to which, never having seen "service," he was not entitled, and perambulating the gutters of South Kensington with a child in his arms. The

aunt resigned herself to the prospect of a winter in Hampshire. Return to Town she would not. London was not what it had been, and the vanities of the metropolis fell dismally short of the old pre-War standard. You were robbed, too, openly, wherever you went. With tears in their eyes, shopkeeper

hard as him. Yet, of the two, her plight was less evil. Each of them had dropped in their tracks, which is to say t

er to a broken heart. But, sirs, the flesh and the spirit are thicker than that. The iron must have en

r love, she had made the man free, was infamous. It was such treatment as she would not have expected at the hands of a counter-jumper-a deserter-a satyr. Possibly a satyr in a weak moment might have fallen so low. But Anthony was not a satyr. And deserte

men, is what a h

on this

less foot.... Cold as any stone. But then it is the month of December, and she has lain so for two hours. Two hours of agony. She can remember every look those steady grey eyes of Lyveden's have ever given her, and in the last two hours she has remembered them all. Inch by inch sh

had her in a strait-jacket, and the very

wearily through the twilight and up the long drive, when the cough of a motor-ho

local docto

heart st

she was runnin

e she had reached the steps, the front door

tman who a

ter?" she pante

g. She an' Mrs. Alison 'ad been to tea with

he,'" snapped Valerie

some fresh tea.

bewildered servan

s of God

*

r hours ha

that her pride was to be reduced to powder, and that there was nothing for it but to submit to the process with the best grace she could. Not every woman would have reasoned so wisely: few would have given to

the day before, and where she was like to spend the next six weeks of her existence. The patient was wearing one of Valerie's night-gowns an

I know I did. And if you know any bad words, say them.' For all the pain, I couldn't help laughing. And then she told me how she'd broken her leg in the hunting field, and the vicar was the first to get to her, and how she hung on to him and made him feed her

" said Valerie. "It's all our servants' faul

ne wistfully. "But to be sad

a grave smile. "You promi

lison

k what they'll do at The Shrubbery. If only Anthony

shook

was going

ere a lot together. On the car, I mean. Off duty we never saw much of him. He liked being alone. I think I'm the only one he went for a walk with all the time he was there. And then Betty sent

lerie faintly. "Where

s call it 'The Beacon.' You must know it. That very high p

gripping her by the throat. The walls of the room, too, were closing i

ort she fought unco

ate. He had never taken Anne there. Betty h

last two months, blowing some to atoms, bringing to light others that had lain buried. Out of the

ame you, of course, but

ily, "if you could give m

said Anne heartily, "but

a roar that was thunderous, brain-shaking.... For a moment of time they pounde

rn was