leona lalage had scarcely returned to her own room when hetty came out of hers. she had heard the loud knocking at the door, and had instantly guessed who it was. but the strange silence that followed the answering of that summons puzzled her. the whole house was wonderfully still now, a silence that seemed to tell of dark mysteries. she looked over into the hall below. she could not remain here any longer. she would go down into the library and wait there. those two people were quite capable of murdering her lover as well as maitrank. she opened the library door, and to her great surprise bruce stood before her.
as she would have cried out he laid his hand on her lips. he could feel that she was trembling from head to foot.
"my darling," he whispered, "what does it all mean?"
"i cannot tell you," hetty said helplessly. "but i have been seeing strange things all the evening. i got frightened and sent for you."
"and i am afraid i betrayed the fact," bruce admitted. "i might have thought of some other way of accounting for my presence here. still, that rather piratical-looking young man seemed to think you had done right. what's this about some man picked up in the garden?"
"what did mr. balmayne tell you?" hetty asked in reply.
bruce explained shortly. hetty came closer to him.
"lies, lies, lies!" she whispered. "there is not a word of truth in what he said. that old man came here because the countess had robbed him of a lot of money. there were some diamonds that he was going to take in part payment. he had the diamonds. then he was drugged and cleverly got out of the house. they had so managed it that a policeman saw him leave. a little further on the drug took effect. balmayne brought the body back and carried it down the garden to the motor car waiting at the back. i saw all this; then i had an inspiration. with my ornamental hairpin i slashed open two of the tyres of the car, so that it was impossible to take the old man away. it was too risky to carry him back to the roadway where they left him, so they had to bring him back to the house and trust to luck for the rest."
"and you say you saw all this?" bruce asked.
"every bit of it. gordon, put your ear down close to me. they were going to murder that poor old man in the garden. it took all my courage and all my nerve to appear at that moment, because they might have done me a mischief also."
hetty ceased to speak for a moment. the recollection of what she had gone through overcame her. bruce kissed her tenderly.
"but i managed it," hetty went on. "when the critical moment came i was astonished at my own calmness. they suspected nothing. i was merely out there because i had a headache and could not sleep. so i saved that man's life. it was some time after that i lost my nerve and telephoned for you."
"are there more horrors to come, dearest?"
"no, for the time being the horrors are all over. that old man came to himself again, and swears that he has been robbed. he made an awful scene. he woke mamie up, and i had to get her mother to come and see her. i believe balmayne was nearly making an end of his victim when you knocked. and, oh, my dear boy, i shall be so glad to get away from this awful house."
"you shall leave it tomorrow, never to return," bruce declared.
"no; not yet. the secret of the shadow that lies over you is bound up in this house. till it has passed away i stay here. but it is dreadful. the silence of it frightens me. how still it all is now!"
it was very silent then. to the casual eye here was everything that the heart could desire. it seemed hard to associate vulgar crime with all this artistic beauty, with the pictures and statues and flowers.
suddenly the silence was broken by a laugh. it was the croaking kind of laugh that could only have proceeded from the lips of an old man. but there was pleasure in it. it came strangely after the note of tragedy that had dominated the evening. a door opened somewhere, and the laugh came once more.
then there was the voice of balmayne in a key of mirth. the front door was opened, the call of a cab whistle thrilled down the street. it was almost as if there were two sets of people in the house, one family given over to the dark and gloomy, the other all comedy and smiles.
on the impulse of the moment bruce opened the library door and looked out. it was hard after what hetty had told him to believe the evidence of his senses.
there was the man who twice within the last hour had been in danger of his life chatting quietly with the man who had robbed him. the two were evidently on the best of terms, for maitrank was laughing heartily, and balmayne stood opposite smoking a cigarette like a host who speeds a parting guest.
outside was the clatter of hoofs and the jingle of harness. the hall door stood open; balmayne politely helped maitrank on with his heavy coat. hetty, standing in the background, began to wonder if she was dreaming.
"what can it all mean?" she whispered.
bruce could say nothing. at every turn of this mystery it seemed to grow more tangled and knotted. he waited until the two had passed into the roadway; he heard the exchange of goodnights, and then the cab rattled away. balmayne came back and looked quite carelessly into the library. hetty had already stepped out of the side door and had gone up to her room. she had no desire for balmayne to know that she had been with bruce.
"you see our patient has gone," balmayne said smoothly. "as a matter of fact, the whole thing was a ridiculous mistake. but you must not blame us. the blame is due to the charming young lady who sent for you. but that is one of the drawbacks of your noble profession. goodnight."
bruce murmured something. he was too dazed for the moment to speak coherently.
